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arXiv:2404.17727

Efficient Mediated Semi-Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Using Single Qubits

Mustapha Anis Younes, Sofia Zebboudj, Abdelhakim Gharbi

Published Apr 26, 2024• 0 citations
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Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new efficient mediated semi-quantum key distribution (MSQKD) protocol, facilitating the establishment of a shared secret key between two classical participants with the assistance of an untrusted third party (TP). Unlike existing MSQKD protocols, our approach significantly reduces the quantum requirements for TP, who only needs to prepare and measure qubits in the $X$ basis. Meanwhile, the classical participants are limited to preparing and measuring qubits in the $Z$ basis, along with performing Hadamard operations. This reduction in quantum overhead enhances the practicality of our MSQKD protocol without compromising qubit efficiency. Additionally, we demonstrate the security of our protocol against various well-known attacks.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2404.17727

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The 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.
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.