594 research outputs found
Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: a survey
The appealing feature of quantum key distribution (QKD), from a cryptographic
viewpoint, is the ability to prove the information-theoretic security (ITS) of
the established keys. As a key establishment primitive, QKD however does not
provide a standalone security service in its own: the secret keys established
by QKD are in general then used by a subsequent cryptographic applications for
which the requirements, the context of use and the security properties can
vary. It is therefore important, in the perspective of integrating QKD in
security infrastructures, to analyze how QKD can be combined with other
cryptographic primitives. The purpose of this survey article, which is mostly
centered on European research results, is to contribute to such an analysis. We
first review and compare the properties of the existing key establishment
techniques, QKD being one of them. We then study more specifically two generic
scenarios related to the practical use of QKD in cryptographic infrastructures:
1) using QKD as a key renewal technique for a symmetric cipher over a
point-to-point link; 2) using QKD in a network containing many users with the
objective of offering any-to-any key establishment service. We discuss the
constraints as well as the potential interest of using QKD in these contexts.
We finally give an overview of challenges relative to the development of QKD
technology that also constitute potential avenues for cryptographic research.Comment: Revised version of the SECOQC White Paper. Published in the special
issue on QKD of TCS, Theoretical Computer Science (2014), pp. 62-8
Quantum e-commerce: A comparative study of possible protocols for online shopping and other tasks related to e-commerce
A set of quantum protocols for online shopping is proposed and analyzed to
establish that it is possible to perform secure online shopping using different
types of quantum resources. Specifically, a single photon based, a Bell state
based and two 3-qubit entangled state based quantum online shopping schemes are
proposed. The Bell state based scheme, being a completely orthogonal state
based protocol, is fundamentally different from the earlier proposed schemes
which were based on conjugate coding. One of the 3-qubit entangled state based
scheme is build on the principle of entanglement swapping which enables us to
accomplish the task without transmission of the message encoded qubits through
the channel. Possible ways of generalizing the entangled state based schemes
proposed here to the schemes which use multiqubit entangled states is also
discussed. Further, all the proposed protocols are shown to be free from the
limitations of the recently proposed protocol of Huang et al. (Quantum Inf.
Process. 14, 2211-2225, 2015) which allows the buyer (Alice) to change her
order at a later time (after initially placing the order and getting it
authenticated by the controller). The proposed schemes are also compared with
the existing schemes using qubit efficiency.Comment: It's shown that quantum e-commerce is not a difficult task, and it
can be done in various way
Roadmap on optical security
Postprint (author's final draft
A Simplified Hierarchical Dynamic Quantum Secret Sharing Protocol with Added Features
Generalizing the notion of dynamic quantum secret sharing (DQSS), a
simplified protocol for hierarchical dynamic quantum secret sharing (HDQSS) is
proposed and it is shown that the protocol can be implemented using any
existing protocol of quantum key distribution, quantum key agreement or secure
direct quantum communication. The security of this proposed protocol against
eavesdropping and collusion attacks is discussed with specific attention
towards the issues related to the composability of the subprotocols that
constitute the proposed protocol. The security and qubit efficiency of the
proposed protocol is also compared with that of other existing protocols of
DQSS. Further, it is shown that it is possible to design a semi-quantum
protocol of HDQSS and in principle, the protocols of HDQSS can be implemented
using any quantum state. It is also noted that the completely
orthogonal-state-based realization of HDQSS protocol is possible and that HDQSS
can be experimentally realized using a large number of alternative approaches.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Quantum Cryptography Beyond Quantum Key Distribution
Quantum cryptography is the art and science of exploiting quantum mechanical
effects in order to perform cryptographic tasks. While the most well-known
example of this discipline is quantum key distribution (QKD), there exist many
other applications such as quantum money, randomness generation, secure two-
and multi-party computation and delegated quantum computation. Quantum
cryptography also studies the limitations and challenges resulting from quantum
adversaries---including the impossibility of quantum bit commitment, the
difficulty of quantum rewinding and the definition of quantum security models
for classical primitives. In this review article, aimed primarily at
cryptographers unfamiliar with the quantum world, we survey the area of
theoretical quantum cryptography, with an emphasis on the constructions and
limitations beyond the realm of QKD.Comment: 45 pages, over 245 reference
Review on DNA Cryptography
Cryptography is the science that secures data and communication over the
network by applying mathematics and logic to design strong encryption methods.
In the modern era of e-business and e-commerce the protection of
confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA triad) of stored information
as well as of transmitted data is very crucial. DNA molecules, having the
capacity to store, process and transmit information, inspires the idea of DNA
cryptography. This combination of the chemical characteristics of biological
DNA sequences and classical cryptography ensures the non-vulnerable
transmission of data. In this paper we have reviewed the present state of art
of DNA cryptography.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, 6 table
Quantum cryptography: key distribution and beyond
Uniquely among the sciences, quantum cryptography has driven both
foundational research as well as practical real-life applications. We review
the progress of quantum cryptography in the last decade, covering quantum key
distribution and other applications.Comment: It's a review on quantum cryptography and it is not restricted to QK
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