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

Détermination de l'impédance de transfert des câbles coaxiaux à forte immunité grâce à la modélisation numérique

International audienceL'étude présentée dans ce papier porte sur une approche numérique de la détermination de l'impédance de transfert des câbles coaxiaux. Nous nous penchons particulièrement sur le cas des câbles à forte immunité, pour lesquels la mesure de l'impédance de transfert est entravée par des phénomènes que nous détaillons. Des modèles de câbles coaxiaux sont cons-truits sous le logiciel CST MWs afin de s'affranchir des problèmes rencontrés avec la mesure et du coût de fabrication d'un prototype

Détermination de l'impédance de transfert des câbles coaxiaux à forte immunité grâce à la modélisation numérique

International audienceL'étude présentée dans ce papier porte sur une approche numérique de la détermination de l'impédance de transfert des câbles coaxiaux. Nous nous penchons particulièrement sur le cas des câbles à forte immunité, pour lesquels la mesure de l'impédance de transfert est entravée par des phénomènes que nous détaillons. Des modèles de câbles coaxiaux sont cons-truits sous le logiciel CST MWs afin de s'affranchir des problèmes rencontrés avec la mesure et du coût de fabrication d'un prototype

Sosemanuk, a fast software-oriented stream cipher. eSTREAM, ECRYPT Stream Cipher

Abstract. Sosemanuk is a new synchronous software-oriented stream cipher, corresponding to Profile 1 of the ECRYPT call for stream cipher primitives. Its key length is variable between 128 and 256 bits. It accommodates a 128-bit initial value. Any key length is claimed to achieve 128-bit security. The Sosemanuk cipher uses both some basic design principles from the stream cipher SNOW 2.0 and some transformations derived from the block cipher SERPENT. Sosemanuk aims at improving SNOW 2.0 both from the security and from the efficiency points of view. Most notably, it uses a faster IV-setup procedure. It also requires a reduced amount of static data, yielding better performance on several architectures.

"DecimV2"

International audienc

Sosemanuk, a Fast Software-Oriented Stream Cipher

Sosemanuk is a new synchronous software-oriented stream cipher, corresponding to Profile 1 of the ECRYPT call for stream cipher primitives. Its key length is variable between 128 and 256 bits. It accommodates a 128-bit initial value. Any key length is claimed to achieve 128-bit security. The Sosemanuk cipher uses both some basic design principles from the stream cipher SNOW 2.0 and some transformations derived from the block cipher SERPENT. Sosemanuk aims at improving SNOW 2.0 both from the security and from the efficiency points of view. Most notably, it uses a faster IV-setup procedure. It also requires a reduced amount of static data, yielding better performance on several architectures