  A well-known feature of quantum mechanics is the secure exchange of secret
bit strings which can then be used as keys to encrypt messages transmitted over
any classical communication channel. It is demonstrated that this quantum key
distribution allows a much more general and abstract access than commonly
thought. The results include some generalizations for the Hilbert space version
of quantum key distribution,but base upon a general non-classical extension of
conditional probability. A special state-independent conditional probability is
identified as origin of the superior security of quantum key distribution and
may have more profound implications for the foundations and interpretation of
quantum mechanics,quantum information theory, and the philosophical question
what actually constitutes physical reality.
