887 research outputs found

    A Talk on Quantum Cryptography, or How Alice Outwits Eve

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    Alice and Bob wish to communicate without the archvillainess Eve eavesdropping on their conversation. Alice, decides to take two college courses, one in cryptography, the other in quantum mechanics. During the courses, she discovers she can use what she has just learned to devise a cryptographic communication system that automatically detects whether or not Eve is up to her villainous eavesdropping. Some of the topics discussed are Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, the Vernam cipher, the BB84 and B92 cryptographic protocols. The talk ends with a discussion of some of Eve's possible eavesdropping strategies, opaque eavesdropping, translucent eavesdropping, and translucent eavesdropping with entanglement.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures. Revised version of a paper published in "Coding Theory, and Cryptography: From Geheimscheimschreiber and Enigma to Quantum Theory," (edited by David Joyner), Springer-Verlag, 1999 (pp. 144-174). To be published with the permission of Springer-Verlag in an AMS PSAPM Short Course volume entitled "Quantum Computation.

    Security performance and protocol consideration in optical communication system with optical layer security enabled by optical coding techniques

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    With the fast development of communication systems, network security issues have more and more impact on daily life. It is essential to construct a high degree of optical layer security to resolve the security problem once and for all. Three different techniques which can provide optical layer security are introduced and compared. Optical chaos can be used for fast random number generation. Quantum cryptography is the most promising technique for key distribution. And the optical coding techniques can be deployed to encrypt the modulated signal in the optical layer. A mathematical equation has been derived from information theory to evaluate the information-theoretic security level of the wiretap channel in optical coding schemes. And the merits and limitation of two coherent optical coding schemes, temporal phase coding and spectral phase coding, have been analysed. The security scheme based on a reconfigurable optical coding device has been introduced, and the corresponding security protocol has been developed. By moving the encryption operation from the electronic layer to the optical layer, the modulated signals become opaque to the unauthorised users. Optical code distribution and authentication is the one of the major challenges for our proposed scheme. In our proposed protocol, both of the operations are covered and defined in detail. As a preliminary draft of the optical code security protocol, it could be a useful guidance for further research

    Fast Internet-Wide Scanning: A New Security Perspective

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    Techniques like passive observation and random sampling let researchers understand many aspects of Internet day-to-day operation, yet these methodologies often focus on popular services or a small demographic of users, rather than providing a comprehensive view of the devices and services that constitute the Internet. As the diversity of devices and the role they play in critical infrastructure increases, so does understanding the dynamics of and securing these hosts. This dissertation shows how fast Internet-wide scanning provides a near-global perspective of edge hosts that enables researchers to uncover security weaknesses that only emerge at scale. First, I show that it is possible to efficiently scan the IPv4 address space. ZMap: a network scanner specifically architected for large-scale research studies can survey the entire IPv4 address space from a single machine in under an hour at 97% of the theoretical maximum speed of gigabit Ethernet with an estimated 98% coverage of publicly available hosts. Building on ZMap, I introduce Censys, a public service that maintains up-to-date and legacy snapshots of the hosts and services running across the public IPv4 address space. Censys enables researchers to efficiently ask a range of security questions. Next, I present four case studies that highlight how Internet-wide scanning can identify new classes of weaknesses that only emerge at scale, uncover unexpected attacks, shed light on previously opaque distributed systems on the Internet, and understand the impact of consequential vulnerabilities. Finally, I explore how in- creased contention over IPv4 addresses introduces new challenges for performing large-scale empirical studies. I conclude with suggested directions that the re- search community needs to consider to retain the degree of visibility that Internet-wide scanning currently provides.PHDComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138660/1/zakir_1.pd

    Physical-Layer Security, Quantum Key Distribution and Post-quantum Cryptography

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    The growth of data-driven technologies, 5G, and the Internet place enormous pressure on underlying information infrastructure. There exist numerous proposals on how to deal with the possible capacity crunch. However, the security of both optical and wireless networks lags behind reliable and spectrally efficient transmission. Significant achievements have been made recently in the quantum computing arena. Because most conventional cryptography systems rely on computational security, which guarantees the security against an efficient eavesdropper for a limited time, with the advancement in quantum computing this security can be compromised. To solve these problems, various schemes providing perfect/unconditional security have been proposed including physical-layer security (PLS), quantum key distribution (QKD), and post-quantum cryptography. Unfortunately, it is still not clear how to integrate those different proposals with higher level cryptography schemes. So the purpose of the Special Issue entitled “Physical-Layer Security, Quantum Key Distribution and Post-quantum Cryptography” was to integrate these various approaches and enable the next generation of cryptography systems whose security cannot be broken by quantum computers. This book represents the reprint of the papers accepted for publication in the Special Issue

    The nerves of government: electronic networking and social control in the information society

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    Informatisation was introduced as a functional parameter in social and political research in 1978 (Nora & Minc 1978). Today, nearly a quarter of a century later, popular and academic political debates in the West appear to be growing increasingly aware of the intense interaction between information technology and social development. This project follows in the footsteps of this increased awareness and explores the meaning of digitisation for the socio- political concept of citizens' privacy.This project seeks to contribute to a wider body of literature that desires to provide meaningful answers to the following questions: (1) what sociotechnical trends are evident today in information privacy policies in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US)? (2) What particular political visions do these trends seem to favour and what do these visions appear to suggest for the future of citizens' privacy in the West? (3) What is the potential importance of digital networking for practices of social management and control, both by governmental decision centres and commercial bodies?As case study for the above issues, the eventful appearance of two recent legislative works has been selected: the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), enacted by the UK parliament in July 2000; and the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), enacted in the US in 1994. Both Acts, which have yet to be fully implemented, in effect make it mandatory for all telecommunications operators and service providers to, among other things, ensure that their customers' communications can be intercepted by law enforcement and intelligence organisations, whose interception capabilities have been seriously hampered by the digitisation of telecommunications during the past few years.The project combines quantitative and qualitative data on RIPA and CALEA, which have been acquired through open- source, restricted or leaked government and industry reports on the subject, as well as through a number of interviews with informed individuals representing different sides of the communications interception (CI) debate. The development of communications interception is thus placed into the context of complex relationships between political actors, such as national policy experts and government advisors, state and corporate decision -makers and members of regulatory bodies

    The Frontiers of Technology in Warhead Verification

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    How might new technical verification capabilities enhance the prospects of success in future nuclear arms control negotiations? Both theory and evidence suggest that verification technologies can influence the dynamics of arms control negotiations by shaping and constraining the arguments and strategies that are available to the involved stakeholders. In the future, new technologies may help transcend the specific verification challenge of high-security warhead authentication, which is a verification capability needed in future disarmament scenarios that address fewer warheads, limit new categories of warheads, and involve nuclear weapons states other than the United States and Russia. Under these circumstances, the core challenge is maintaining the confidentiality of the classified information related to the warheads under inspection, while providing transparency in the verification process. This analysis focuses on a set of emerging warhead authentication approaches that rely on the cryptographic concept of zero-knowledge proofs and intend to solve the paradox between secrecy and transparency, making deeper reductions in warhead arsenals possible and thus facilitating future nuclear arms control negotiations

    Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations

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    As the quarter-century mark in the 21st Century nears, new aviation-related equipment has come to the forefront, both to help us and to haunt us. (Coutu, 2020) This is particularly the case with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These vehicles have grown in popularity and accessible to everyone. Of different shapes and sizes, they are widely available for purchase at relatively low prices. They have moved from the backyard recreation status to important tools for the military, intelligence agencies, and corporate organizations. New practical applications such as military equipment and weaponry are announced on a regular basis – globally. (Coutu, 2020) Every country seems to be announcing steps forward in this bludgeoning field. In our successful 2nd edition of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets (Nichols, et al., 2019), the authors addressed three factors influencing UAS phenomena. First, unmanned aircraft technology has seen an economic explosion in production, sales, testing, specialized designs, and friendly / hostile usages of deployed UAS / UAVs / Drones. There is a huge global growing market and entrepreneurs know it. Second, hostile use of UAS is on the forefront of DoD defense and offensive planners. They are especially concerned with SWARM behavior. Movies like “Angel has Fallen,” where drones in a SWARM use facial recognition technology to kill USSS agents protecting POTUS, have built the lore of UAS and brought the problem forefront to DHS. Third, UAS technology was exploding. UAS and Counter- UAS developments in navigation, weapons, surveillance, data transfer, fuel cells, stealth, weight distribution, tactics, GPS / GNSS elements, SCADA protections, privacy invasions, terrorist uses, specialized software, and security protocols has exploded. (Nichols, et al., 2019) Our team has followed / tracked joint ventures between military and corporate entities and specialized labs to build UAS countermeasures. As authors, we felt compelled to address at least the edge of some of the new C-UAS developments. It was clear that we would be lucky if we could cover a few of – the more interesting and priority technology updates – all in the UNCLASSIFIED and OPEN sphere. Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Technologies and Operations is the companion textbook to our 2nd edition. The civilian market is interesting and entrepreneurial, but the military and intelligence markets are of concern because the US does NOT lead the pack in C-UAS technologies. China does. China continues to execute its UAS proliferation along the New Silk Road Sea / Land routes (NSRL). It has maintained a 7% growth in military spending each year to support its buildup. (Nichols, et al., 2019) [Chapter 21]. They continue to innovate and have recently improved a solution for UAS flight endurance issues with the development of advanced hydrogen fuel cell. (Nichols, et al., 2019) Reed and Trubetskoy presented a terrifying map of countries in the Middle East with armed drones and their manufacturing origin. Guess who? China. (A.B. Tabriski & Justin, 2018, December) Our C-UAS textbook has as its primary mission to educate and train resources who will enter the UAS / C-UAS field and trust it will act as a call to arms for military and DHS planners.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1031/thumbnail.jp

    Vulnerability Assessment and Privacy-preserving Computations in Smart Grid

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    Modern advances in sensor, computing, and communication technologies enable various smart grid applications which highlight the vulnerability that requires novel approaches to the field of cybersecurity. While substantial numbers of technologies have been adopted to protect cyber attacks in smart grid, there lacks a comprehensive review of the implementations, impacts, and solutions of cyber attacks specific to the smart grid.In this dissertation, we are motivated to evaluate the security requirements for the smart grid which include three main properties: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. First, we review the cyber-physical security of the synchrophasor network, which highlights all three aspects of security issues. Taking the synchrophasor network as an example, we give an overview of how to attack a smart grid network. We test three types of attacks and show the impact of each attack consisting of denial-of-service attack, sniffing attack, and false data injection attack.Next, we discuss how to protect against each attack. For protecting availability, we examine possible defense strategies for the associated vulnerabilities.For protecting data integrity, a small-scale prototype of secure synchrophasor network is presented with different cryptosystems. Besides, a deep learning based time-series anomaly detector is proposed to detect injected measurement. Our approach observes both data measurements and network traffic features to jointly learn system states and can detect attacks when state vector estimator fails.For protecting data confidentiality, we propose privacy-preserving algorithms for two important smart grid applications. 1) A distributed privacy-preserving quadratic optimization algorithm to solve Security Constrained Optimal Power Flow (SCOPF) problem. The SCOPF problem is decomposed into small subproblems using the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) and gradient projection algorithms. 2) We use Paillier cryptosystem to secure the computation of the power system dynamic simulation. The IEEE 3-Machine 9-Bus System is used to implement and demonstrate the proposed scheme. The security and performance analysis of our implementations demonstrate that our algorithms can prevent chosen-ciphertext attacks at a reasonable cost

    Quantum Communication, Sensing and Measurement in Space

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    The main theme of the conclusions drawn for classical communication systems operating at optical or higher frequencies is that there is a well‐understood performance gain in photon efficiency (bits/photon) and spectral efficiency (bits/s/Hz) by pursuing coherent‐state transmitters (classical ideal laser light) coupled with novel quantum receiver systems operating near the Holevo limit (e.g., joint detection receivers). However, recent research indicates that these receivers will require nonlinear and nonclassical optical processes and components at the receiver. Consequently, the implementation complexity of Holevo‐capacityapproaching receivers is not yet fully ascertained. Nonetheless, because the potential gain is significant (e.g., the projected photon efficiency and data rate of MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Lunar Lasercom Demonstration (LLCD) could be achieved with a factor‐of‐20 reduction in the modulation bandwidth requirement), focused research activities on ground‐receiver architectures that approach the Holevo limit in space‐communication links would be beneficial. The potential gains resulting from quantum‐enhanced sensing systems in space applications have not been laid out as concretely as some of the other areas addressed in our study. In particular, while the study period has produced several interesting high‐risk and high‐payoff avenues of research, more detailed seedlinglevel investigations are required to fully delineate the potential return relative to the state‐of‐the‐art. Two prominent examples are (1) improvements to pointing, acquisition and tracking systems (e.g., for optical communication systems) by way of quantum measurements, and (2) possible weak‐valued measurement techniques to attain high‐accuracy sensing systems for in situ or remote‐sensing instruments. While these concepts are technically sound and have very promising bench‐top demonstrations in a lab environment, they are not mature enough to realistically evaluate their performance in a space‐based application. Therefore, it is recommended that future work follow small focused efforts towards incorporating practical constraints imposed by a space environment. The space platform has been well recognized as a nearly ideal environment for some of the most precise tests of fundamental physics, and the ensuing potential of scientific advances enabled by quantum technologies is evident in our report. For example, an exciting concept that has emerged for gravity‐wave detection is that the intermediate frequency band spanning 0.01 to 10 Hz—which is inaccessible from the ground—could be accessed at unprecedented sensitivity with a space‐based interferometer that uses shorter arms relative to state‐of‐the‐art to keep the diffraction losses low, and employs frequency‐dependent squeezed light to surpass the standard quantum limit sensitivity. This offers the potential to open up a new window into the universe, revealing the behavior of compact astrophysical objects and pulsars. As another set of examples, research accomplishments in the atomic and optics fields in recent years have ushered in a number of novel clocks and sensors that can achieve unprecedented measurement precisions. These emerging technologies promise new possibilities in fundamental physics, examples of which are tests of relativistic gravity theory, universality of free fall, frame‐dragging precession, the gravitational inverse‐square law at micron scale, and new ways of gravitational wave detection with atomic inertial sensors. While the relevant technologies and their discovery potentials have been well demonstrated on the ground, there exists a large gap to space‐based systems. To bridge this gap and to advance fundamental‐physics exploration in space, focused investments that further mature promising technologies, such as space‐based atomic clocks and quantum sensors based on atom‐wave interferometers, are recommended. Bringing a group of experts from diverse technical backgrounds together in a productive interactive environment spurred some unanticipated innovative concepts. One promising concept is the possibility of utilizing a space‐based interferometer as a frequency reference for terrestrial precision measurements. Space‐based gravitational wave detectors depend on extraordinarily low noise in the separation between spacecraft, resulting in an ultra‐stable frequency reference that is several orders of magnitude better than the state of the art of frequency references using terrestrial technology. The next steps in developing this promising new concept are simulations and measurement of atmospheric effects that may limit performance due to non‐reciprocal phase fluctuations. In summary, this report covers a broad spectrum of possible new opportunities in space science, as well as enhancements in the performance of communication and sensing technologies, based on observing, manipulating and exploiting the quantum‐mechanical nature of our universe. In our study we identified a range of exciting new opportunities to capture the revolutionary capabilities resulting from quantum enhancements. We believe that pursuing these opportunities has the potential to positively impact the NASA mission in both the near term and in the long term. In this report we lay out the research and development paths that we believe are necessary to realize these opportunities and capitalize on the gains quantum technologies can offer
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