Quantum-locked key distribution at nearly the classical capacity rate

Quantum data locking is a protocol that allows for a small secret key to (un)lock an exponentially larger amount of information, hence yielding the strongest violation of the classical one-time pad encryption in the quantum setting. This violation mirrors a large gap existing between two security criteria for quantum cryptography quantified by two entropic quantities: the Holevo information and the accessible information. We show that the latter becomes a sensible security criterion if an upper bound on the coherence time of the eavesdropper's quantum memory is known. Under this condition we introduce a protocol for secret key generation through a memoryless qudit channel. For channels with enough symmetry, such as the d-dimensional erasure and depolarizing channels, this protocol allows secret key generation at an asymptotic rate as high as the classical capacity minus one bit.Comment: v2 is close to the published version and contains only the key distribution protocols (4+5 pages), an extended version of the direct communication protocol is posted in arXiv:1410.4748 Comments always welcom

Still Wrong Use of Pairings in Cryptography

Several pairing-based cryptographic protocols are recently proposed with a wide variety of new novel applications including the ones in emerging technologies like cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), e-health systems and wearable technologies. There have been however a wide range of incorrect use of these primitives. The paper of Galbraith, Paterson, and Smart (2006) pointed out most of the issues related to the incorrect use of pairing-based cryptography. However, we noticed that some recently proposed applications still do not use these primitives correctly. This leads to unrealizable, insecure or too inefficient designs of pairing-based protocols. We observed that one reason is not being aware of the recent advancements on solving the discrete logarithm problems in some groups. The main purpose of this article is to give an understandable, informative, and the most up-to-date criteria for the correct use of pairing-based cryptography. We thereby deliberately avoid most of the technical details and rather give special emphasis on the importance of the correct use of bilinear maps by realizing secure cryptographic protocols. We list a collection of some recent papers having wrong security assumptions or realizability/efficiency issues. Finally, we give a compact and an up-to-date recipe of the correct use of pairings.Comment: 25 page

Cybersecurity in the Classroom: Bridging the Gap Between Computer Access and Online Safety

According to ISACA, there will be a global shortage of 2 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide by 2019. Additionally, according to Experian Data Breach Resolution, as much as 80% of all network breaches can be traced to employee negligence. These problems will not solve themselves, and they likewise won’t improve without drastic action. An effort needs to be made to help direct interested and qualified individuals to the field of cybersecurity to move toward closing this gap. Moreover, steps need to be made to better inform the public of general safety measures while online, including the safeguarding of sensitive information. A large issue with solving the problems at hand is that there seems to be no comprehensive curriculum for cybersecurity education to teach these basic principles. In my paper, I review and compare several after- and in-school programs that attempt to address this problem. I’ve also interviewed teachers from Montgomery County Public Schools, a relatively ethnically diverse school district outside of Washington, D.C. These issues need to be addressed, and while private organizations and local schools are attempting to tackle the problem, wider action may need to be taken at a national level to come to a resolution

Cybersecurity in the Classroom: Bridging the Gap Between Computer Access and Online Safety

According to ISACA, there will be a global shortage of 2 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide by 2019. Additionally, according to Experian Data Breach Resolution, as much as 80% of all network breaches can be traced to employee negligence. These problems will not solve themselves, and they likewise won’t improve without drastic action. An effort needs to be made to help direct interested and qualified individuals to the field of cybersecurity to move toward closing this gap. Moreover, steps need to be made to better inform the public of general safety measures while online, including the safeguarding of sensitive information. A large issue with solving the problems at hand is that there seems to be no comprehensive curriculum for cybersecurity education to teach these basic principles. In my paper, I review and compare several after- and in-school programs that attempt to address this problem. I’ve also interviewed teachers from Montgomery County Public Schools, a relatively ethnically diverse school district outside of Washington, D.C. These issues need to be addressed, and while private organizations and local schools are attempting to tackle the problem, wider action may need to be taken at a national level to come to a resolution