Efficient and universal quantum key distribution based on chaos and middleware

Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises unconditionally secure communications, however, the low bit rate of QKD cannot meet the requirements of high-speed applications. Despite the many solutions that have been proposed in recent years, they are neither efficient to generate the secret keys nor compatible with other QKD systems. This paper, based on chaotic cryptography and middleware technology, proposes an efficient and universal QKD protocol that can be directly deployed on top of any existing QKD system without modifying the underlying QKD protocol and optical platform. It initially takes the bit string generated by the QKD system as input, periodically updates the chaotic system, and efficiently outputs the bit sequences. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that our protocol can efficiently increase the bit rate of the QKD system as well as securely generate bit sequences with perfect statistical properties. Compared with the existing methods, our protocol is more efficient and universal, it can be rapidly deployed on the QKD system to increase the bit rate when the QKD system becomes the bottleneck of its communication system.

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Optimization and Implementation of Efficient and Universal Quantum Key Distribution

Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering ◽

10.1155/2020/3418780 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Da-jun Huang ◽

Wen-zhe Zhong ◽

Jin Zhong ◽

Dong Jiang ◽

Hao Wu

Keyword(s):

Quantum Mechanics ◽

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Bit Rate ◽

Low Bit Rate ◽

The Past ◽

Optimized Protocol ◽

Chaotic Cryptography ◽

Middleware Technology ◽

Universal Quantum

Since quantum key distribution (QKD) can provide proven unconditional security guaranteed by the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics, it has attracted increasing attention over the past three decades. Its low bit rate, however, cannot meet the requirements of modern applications. To solve this problem, recently, an efficient and universal QKD protocol based on chaotic cryptography and middleware technology was proposed, which efficiently increases the bit rate of the underlying QKD system. Nevertheless, we find that this protocol does not take the bit errors into account, and one error bit may lead to the failure of the protocol. In this paper, we give an optimized protocol and deploy it on a BB84 QKD platform. The experimental results show that the optimized version provides resistance to bit errors compared with the original version. And the statistical properties of the generated bits are fully assessed using different methods. The evaluation results prove that the proposed protocol can generate bits with outstanding properties.

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High-speed device-independent quantum key distribution against collective attacks

10.21203/rs.3.rs-957419/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Qiang Zhang ◽

Wen-Zhao Liu ◽

Yu-Zhe Zhang ◽

Yi-Zheng Zhen ◽

Ming-Han Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

High Speed ◽

Detection Efficiency ◽

Bell Inequality ◽

Key Distribution ◽

High Rate ◽

Secret Key ◽

Security Proofs ◽

Secret Keys ◽

High Detection Efficiency

Abstract The security of quantum key distribution (QKD) usually relies on that the users’s devices are well characterized according to the security models made in the security proofs. In contrast,device-independent QKD an entanglement-based protocol permits the security even without any knowledge of the underlying devices. Despite its beauty in theory, device-independent QKD is elusive to realize with current technology. This is because a faithful realization requires ahigh-quality violation of Bell inequality without the fair-sampling assumption. Particularly, in a photonic realization, a rather high detection efficiency is needed where the threshold values depend on the security proofs; this efficiency is far beyond the current reach. Here, both theoretical and experimental innovations yield the realization of device-independent QKD based on a photonic setup. On the theory side, to relax the threshold efficiency for practical deviceindependent QKD, we exploit the random post-selection combined with adding noise for preprocessing, and compute the entropy with complete nonlocal correlations. On the experiment side, we develop a high-quality polarization-entangled photonic source and achieve state-of-theart (heralded) detection efficiency of 87.49%, which outperforms previous experiments and satisfies the threshold efficiency for the first time. Together, we demonstrate device-independent QKD at a secret key rate of 466 bits/s over 20 m standard fiber in the asymptotic limit against collective attacks. Besides, we show the feasibility of generating secret keys at a fiber length of 220 meters. Importantly, our photonic implementation can generate entangled photons at a high rate and in the telecom wavelength, which is desirable for high-speed key generation over long distances. The results not only prove the feasibility of device-independent QKD with realistic devices, but also push the security of communication to an unprecedented level.

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Device-independent quantum key distribution with random key basis

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23147-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

René Schwonnek ◽

Koon Tong Goh ◽

Ignatius W. Primaatmaja ◽

Ernest Y.-Z. Tan ◽

Ramona Wolf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

Bell Inequality ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Information Theoretic ◽

Information Theoretic Security ◽

Experimental Parameters ◽

Secret Keys ◽

Simple Variant ◽

First Time

AbstractDevice-independent quantum key distribution (DIQKD) is the art of using untrusted devices to distribute secret keys in an insecure network. It thus represents the ultimate form of cryptography, offering not only information-theoretic security against channel attacks, but also against attacks exploiting implementation loopholes. In recent years, much progress has been made towards realising the first DIQKD experiments, but current proposals are just out of reach of today’s loophole-free Bell experiments. Here, we significantly narrow the gap between the theory and practice of DIQKD with a simple variant of the original protocol based on the celebrated Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality. By using two randomly chosen key generating bases instead of one, we show that our protocol significantly improves over the original DIQKD protocol, enabling positive keys in the high noise regime for the first time. We also compute the finite-key security of the protocol for general attacks, showing that approximately 108–1010 measurement rounds are needed to achieve positive rates using state-of-the-art experimental parameters. Our proposed DIQKD protocol thus represents a highly promising path towards the first realisation of DIQKD in practice.

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Numerical finite-key analysis of quantum key distribution

npj Quantum Information ◽

10.1038/s41534-020-00322-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Darius Bunandar ◽

Luke C. G. Govia ◽

Hari Krovi ◽

Dirk Englund

Keyword(s):

Finite Number ◽

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Numerical Approach ◽

Asymptotic Formulas ◽

Quantum Computers ◽

Secure Communications ◽

Quantum Relative Entropy ◽

Asymptotic Equipartition Property ◽

Optimization Solvers

AbstractQuantum key distribution (QKD) allows for secure communications safe against attacks by quantum computers. QKD protocols are performed by sending a sizeable, but finite, number of quantum signals between the distant parties involved. Many QKD experiments, however, predict their achievable key rates using asymptotic formulas, which assume the transmission of an infinite number of signals, partly because QKD proofs with finite transmissions (and finite-key lengths) can be difficult. Here we develop a robust numerical approach for calculating the key rates for QKD protocols in the finite-key regime in terms of two semi-definite programs (SDPs). The first uses the relation between conditional smooth min-entropy and quantum relative entropy through the quantum asymptotic equipartition property, and the second uses the relation between the smooth min-entropy and quantum fidelity. The numerical programs are formulated under the assumption of collective attacks from the eavesdropper and can be promoted to withstand coherent attacks using the postselection technique. We then solve these SDPs using convex optimization solvers and obtain numerical calculations of finite-key rates for several protocols difficult to analyze analytically, such as BB84 with unequal detector efficiencies, B92, and twin-field QKD. Our numerical approach democratizes the composable security proofs for QKD protocols where the derived keys can be used as an input to another cryptosystem.

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High speed fiber-based quantum key distribution using polarization encoding

10.1117/12.614598 ◽

2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Xiao Tang ◽

Lijun Ma ◽

Alan Mink ◽

Anastase Nakassis ◽

Barry Hershman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

High Speed ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Polarization Encoding

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Lightweight mediated semi-quantum key distribution protocol with a dishonest third party based on Bell states

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-02614-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Chia-Wei Tsai ◽

Chun-Wei Yang

Keyword(s):

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Trojan Horse ◽

Bell States ◽

Third Party ◽

Research Issue ◽

Important Research ◽

Secret Keys ◽

Quantum Key Distribution Protocol

AbstractThe mediated semi-quantum key distribution (MSQKD) protocol is an important research issue that lets two classical participants share secret keys securely between each other with the help of a third party (TP). However, in the existing MSQKD protocols, there are two improvable issues, namely (1) the classical participants must be equipped with expensive detectors to avoid Trojan horse attacks and (2) the trustworthiness level of TP must be honest. To the best of our knowledge, none of the existing MSQKD protocols can resolve both these issues. Therefore, this study takes Bell states as the quantum resource to propose a MSQKD protocol, in which the classical participants do not need a Trojan horse detector and the TP is dishonest. Furthermore, the proposed protocol is shown to be secure against well-known attacks and the classical participants only need two quantum capabilities. Therefore, in comparison to the existing MSQKD protocols, the proposed protocol is better practical.

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Recent Advancement in High Speed and Secure Quantum Key Distribution: A Review

10.1007/978-981-16-2818-4_29 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 259-267

Author(s):

Kamal Kishor Choure ◽

Ankur Saharia ◽

Nitesh Mudgal ◽

Manish Tiwari ◽

Ghanshyam Singh

Keyword(s):

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

High Speed ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Recent Advancement

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Quantum cryptography

Quantum Information ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198527626.003.0006 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Stephen Barnett

Keyword(s):

Quantum Information ◽

Quantum Cryptography ◽

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Information Technologies ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Julius Caesar ◽

Secure Communications ◽

Quantum Communications ◽

History Of

The practical implementation of quantum information technologies requires, for the most part, highly advanced and currently experimental procedures. One exception is quantum cryptography, or quantum key distribution, which has been successfully demonstrated in many laboratories and has reached an advanced level of development. It will probably become the first commercial application of quantum information. In quantum key distribution, Alice and Bob exploit a quantum channel to create a secret shared key comprising a random string of binary digits. This key can then be used to protect a subsequent communication between them. The principal idea is that the secrecy of the key distribution is ensured by the laws of quantum physics. Proving security for practical communication systems is a challenging problem and requires techniques that are beyond the scope of this book. At a fundamental level, however, the ideas are simple and may readily be understood with the knowledge we have already acquired. Quantum cryptography is the latest idea in the long history of secure (and not so secure) communications and, if it is to develop, it will have to compete with existing technologies. For this reason we begin with a brief survey of the history and current state of the art in secure communications before turning to the possibilities offered by quantum communications. The history of cryptography is a long and fascinating one. As a consequence of the success or, more spectacularly, the failure of ciphers, wars have been fought, battles decided, kingdoms won, and heads lost. In the information age, ciphers and cryptosystems have become part of everyday life; we use them to protect our computers, to shop over the Internet, and to access our money via an ATM (automated teller machine). One of the oldest and simplest of all ciphers is the transposition or Caesarean cipher (attributed to Julius Caesar), in which the letters are shifted by a known (and secret) number of places in the alphabet. If the shift is 1, for example, then A is enciphered as B, B→C, · · ·, Y→Z, Z→A. A shift of five places leads us to make the replacements A→F, B→G, · · ·, Y→D, Z→E.

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Lightweight mediated semi-quantum key distribution protocol

Modern Physics Letters A ◽

10.1142/s021773231950281x ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (34) ◽

pp. 1950281 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chia-Wei Tsai ◽

Chun-Wei Yang ◽

Narn-Yih Lee

Keyword(s):

Quantum Key Distribution ◽

Key Distribution ◽

Trojan Horse ◽

Third Party ◽

Secret Key ◽

Photon Detector ◽

Transmission Strategy ◽

Secret Keys ◽

The One ◽

Trojan Horse Attack

Classical users can share a secret key with a quantum user by using a semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) protocol. Allowing two classical users to share a secret key is the objective of the mediated semi-quantum key distribution (MSQKD) protocol. However, the existing MSQKD protocols need a quantum user to assist two classical users in distributing the secret keys, and these protocols require that the classical users be equipped with a Trojan horse photon detector. This reduces the practicability of the MSQKD protocols. Therefore, in this study we propose a lightweight MSQKD, in which the two participants and third party are classical users. Due to the usage of the one-way transmission strategy, the proposed lightweight MSQKD protocol is free from quantum Trojan horse attack. The proposed MSQKD is more practical than the existing MSQKD protocols.

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