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arXiv:1509.07827 · Physical Review A

Experimental demonstration of kilometer-range quantum digital signatures

Ross J. Donaldson, Robert John Collins, Klaudia Kleczkowska, Ryan Amiri, Petros Wallden, Vedran Dunjko, John Jeffers, Erika Andersson, Gerald S. Buller

Published Jan 19, 2016• 79 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A quantum scheme to guarantee the authenticity and transferability of messages is demonstrated. The optical implementation, built on previous theoretical proposals by some of the authors, is a step forward to the development of practical signature protocols in the field of quantum cryptography.
DOI
10.1103/physreva.93.012329

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Digital signature schemes are often used in interconnected computer networks to verify the origin and authenticity of messages. Current classical digital signature schemes based on so-called “one-way functions” rely on computational complexity to provide security over sufficiently long timescales. However, there are currently no mathematical proofs that such functions will always be computationally complex. Quantum digital signatures offers a means of confirming both origin and authenticity of a message with security verified by information theoretical limits. The message cannot be forged or repudiated. We have constructed, tested and analyzed the security of what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first example of an experimental quantum digital signature system.
Digital signatures guarantee the authenticity and transferability of messages and are widely used in modern communication. The security of currently used classical digital signature schemes, however, relies on computational assumptions. In contrast, quantum digital signature (QDS) schemes offer information-theoretic security guaranteed by the laws of quantum mechanics. We present two QDS protocols which have the same experimental requirements as quantum key distribution, which is already commercially available. We also give a security proof for the presented QDS schemes against coherent forging attacks.
Guaranteeing nonrepudiation, unforgeability as well as transferability of a signature is one of the most vital safeguards in today's e-commerce era. Based on fundamental laws of quantum physics, quantum digital signature (QDS) aims to provide information-theoretic security for this cryptographic task. However, up to date, the previously proposed QDS protocols are impractical due to various challenging problems and most importantly, the requirement of authenticated (secure) quantum channels between participants. Here, we present the first quantum digital signature protocol that removes the assumption of authenticated quantum channels while remaining secure against the collective attacks. Besides, our QDS protocol can be practically implemented over more than 100 km under current mature technology as used in quantum key distribution.
Modern cryptography encompasses much more than encryption of secret messages. Signature schemes are widely used to guarantee that messages cannot be forged or tampered with, for example in e-mail, software updates and electronic commerce. Messages are also transferrable, which distinguishes digital signatures from message authentication. Transferability means that messages can be forwarded; in other words, that a sender is unlikely to be able to make one recipient accept a message which is subsequently rejected by another recipient if the message is forwarded. Similar to public-key encryption, the security of commonly used signature schemes relies on the assumed computational difficulty of problems such as finding discrete logarithms or factoring large primes. With quantum computers, such assumptions would no longer be valid. Partly for this reason, it is desirable to develop signature schemes with unconditional or information-theoretic security. Quantum signature schemes are one possible solution. Similar to quantum key distribution (QKD), their unconditional security relies only on the laws of quantum mechanics. Quantum signatures can be realized with the same system components as QKD, but are so far less investigated. This talk aims to provide an introduction to quantum signatures and to review theoretical and experimental progress so far.
There is ongoing research into information-theoretically secure digital signature schemes. Mathematically based approaches typically require additional resources such as anonymous broadcast and/or a trusted authority to achieve information-theoretical security. The principles of quantum mechanics can be applied to the problem to create the approach known as quantum digital signatures, which does not have these limitations. This presentation will provide an overview of the development of experimental quantum digital signatures. The evolution of experimental test-beds will be charted from small scale demonstrators to long distance implementations with commercial prototypes, along with overviews of the theoretical background of each stage.