A major electronics manufacturer claims to have developed a form of data transfer that will provide "foolproof" digital communication security to IT contractors.

Toshiba has announced the arrival of quantum encryption, which it claims can distribute one-time pads anywhere in the world at a rate of one megabit per second, which is enough to stream video.

One-time pads enable theoretical unbreakable data encryptions, according to Telenet.

The Japanese manufacturer says that this means that the technology is protected from every single type of security threat on the communication channel.

"Even if a quantum computer is developed, it will be secured from that. And, like all encryption methods, it's important that this protocol is implemented in a secure way," said Dr Andrew Shields, assistant managing director, responsible for quantum technology and nanotechnology at Toshiba.

Although the technology is ready now, it will take about three-to-five years for standards to improve enough to allow the technology to be used in real applications, he added.