The University of Rochester’s new quantum enigma machine is taking data encryption to a whole new level. This means shorter encryption keys and more difficult message interception.

Need a way to prevent the enemy from intercepting and deciphering your message?

American mathematician Claude Shannon, AKA the “father of information theory” had a way to do it. He came up with a binary system that could transmit messages under three conditions: the key is random, used only once, and is at least as long as the message itself. A long key, though, sounds like a pain.