134 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
Field test of a practical secure communication network with decoy-state quantum cryptography
We present a secure network communication system that operated with
decoy-state quantum cryptography in a real-world application scenario. The full
key exchange and application protocols were performed in real time among three
nodes, in which two adjacent nodes were connected by approximate 20 km of
commercial telecom optical fiber. The generated quantum keys were immediately
employed and demonstrated for communication applications, including unbreakable
real-time voice telephone between any two of the three communication nodes, or
a broadcast from one node to the other two nodes by using one-time pad
encryption.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, typos correcte
Metropolitan all-pass and inter-city quantum communication network
We have demonstrated a metropolitan all-pass quantum communication network in
field fiber for four nodes. Any two nodes of them can be connected in the
network to perform quantum key distribution (QKD). An optical switching module
is presented that enables arbitrary 2-connectivity among output ports.
Integrated QKD terminals are worked out, which can operate either as a
transmitter, a receiver, or even both at the same time. Furthermore, an
additional link in another city of 60 km fiber (up to 130 km) is seamless
integrated into this network based on a trusted relay architecture. On all the
links, we have implemented protocol of decoy state scheme. All of necessary
electrical hardware, synchronization, feedback control, network software,
execution of QKD protocols are made by tailored designing, which allow a
completely automatical and stable running. Our system has been put into
operation in Hefei in August 2009, and publicly demonstrated during an
evaluation conference on quantum network organized by the Chinese Academy of
Sciences on August 29, 2009. Real-time voice telephone with one-time pad
encoding between any two of the five nodes (four all-pass nodes plus one
additional node through relay) is successfully established in the network
within 60km.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
Quantum key distribution and cryptography: a survey
I will try to partially answer, based on a review on recent work, the following question:
Can QKD and more generally quantum information be useful to cover some practical security requirements in current (and future) IT infrastructures ?
I will in particular cover the following topics
- practical performances of QKD
- QKD network deployment - SECOQC project
- Capabilities of QKD as a cryptographic primitive - comparative advantage with other solution, in order to cover practical security requirements
- Quantum information and Side-channels
- QKD security assurance
- Thoughts about "real" Post-Quantum Cryptograph
The Case for Quantum Key Distribution
Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises secure key agreement by using quantum
mechanical systems. We argue that QKD will be an important part of future
cryptographic infrastructures. It can provide long-term confidentiality for
encrypted information without reliance on computational assumptions. Although
QKD still requires authentication to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, it can
make use of either information-theoretically secure symmetric key
authentication or computationally secure public key authentication: even when
using public key authentication, we argue that QKD still offers stronger
security than classical key agreement.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; to appear in proceedings of QuantumComm 2009
Workshop on Quantum and Classical Information Security; version 2 minor
content revision
Outline of the SECOQC Quantum-Key-Distribution Network in Vienna
A Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) network is currently implemented in Vienna
by integrating seven QKD-Link devices that connect five subsidiaries of SIEMENS
Austria. We give an architectural overview of the network and present the
enabling QKD-technologies, as well as the novel QKD network protocols.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
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