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arXiv:2507.14324

Quantum-Safe Identity Verification using Relativistic Zero-Knowledge Proof Systems

Yao Ma, Wen Yu Kon, Chu, Jefferson, Kevin Han Yong Loh, Kaushik Chakraborty, Charles Ci Wen Lim

Published Jul 18, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

Identity verification is the process of confirming an individual's claimed identity, which is essential in sectors like finance, healthcare, and online services to ensure security and prevent fraud. However, current password/PIN-based identity solutions are susceptible to phishing or skimming attacks, where malicious intermediaries attempt to steal credentials using fake identification portals. Alikhani et al. [Nature, 2021] began exploring identity verification through graph coloring-based relativistic zero-knowledge proofs (RZKPs), a key cryptographic primitive that enables a prover to demonstrate knowledge of secret credentials to a verifier without disclosing any information about the secret. Our work advances this field and addresses unresolved issues: From an engineering perspective, we relax further the relativistic constraints from 60m to 30m, and significantly enhance the stability and scalability of the experimental demonstration of the 2-prover graph coloring-based RZKP protocol for near-term use cases. At the same time, for long-term security against entangled malicious provers, we propose a modified protocol with comparable computation and communication costs, we establish an upper bound on the soundness parameter for this modified protocol. On the other hand, we extend the two-prover, two-verifier setup to a three-prover configuration, demonstrating the security of such relativistic protocols against entangled malicious provers.

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Identity verification is the process of confirming an individual's claimed identity, which is essential in sectors like finance, healthcare, and online services to ensure security and prevent fraud. However, current password/PIN-based identity solutions are susceptible to phishing or skimming attacks, where malicious intermediaries attempt to steal credentials using fake identification portals. Alikhani et al. [Nature, 2021] began exploring identity verification through graph coloring-based relativistic zero-knowledge proofs (RZKPs), a key cryptographic primitive that enables a prover to demonstrate knowledge of secret credentials to a verifier without disclosing any information about the secret. Our work advances this field and addresses unresolved issues: From an engineering perspective, we relax further the relativistic constraints from 60m to 30m, and significantly enhance the stability and scalability of the experimental demonstration of the 2-prover graph coloring-based RZKP protocol for near-term use cases. At the same time, for long-term security against entangled malicious provers, we propose a modified protocol with comparable computation and communication costs, we establish an upper bound on the soundness parameter for this modified protocol. On the other hand, we extend the two-prover, two-verifier setup to a three-prover configuration, demonstrating the security of such relativistic protocols against entangled malicious provers.
This work presents a new scheme based on a quantum zero-knowledge proof for identity authentication. The novelty of this research is the migration of the classical concept Zero-knowledge into the quantum cryptographic framework that, to the best of our knowledge, has never been explored. This approach allows us to take advantage of the principles of quantum mechanics to build a protocol, which is secure against quantum computer attacks, for authenticating several users having access to the same network node. The protocol has been designed, its security analysed and implemented in modified Quantum Key Distribution devices. Two scenarios have been analysed experimentally, the first being both the prover and the verifier honest players, and the second case being the prover a malicious player, the latter demonstrating a notable increase in the quantum bit error rate that prevents a fraudulent authentication.
A new interactive quantum zero-knowledge protocol for identity authentication implementable in currently available quantum cryptographic devices is proposed and demonstrated. The protocol design involves a verifier and a prover knowing a pre-shared secret, and the acceptance or rejection of the proof is determined by the quantum bit error rate. It has been implemented in modified Quantum Key Distribution devices executing two fundamental cases. In the first case, all players are honest, while in the second case, one of the users is a malicious player. We demonstrate an increase of the quantum bit error rate around 25% in the latter case compared to the case of honesty. The protocol has also been validated for distances from a back-to-back setup to more than 60 km between verifier and prover. The security and robustness of the protocol has been analysed, demonstrating its completeness, soundness and zero-knowledge properties.
With the rapid development of quantum computers, proofs of quantumness have recently become an interesting research direction. However, in current schemes for proofs of quantumness, quantum provers face the risk of being maliciously exploited by classical verifiers. Through malicious strategies in interaction with quantum provers, classical verifiers could solve some instances of hard problems that arise from the specific scheme in use. This is due to the lack of formalization that prevents malicious verifiers from extracting useful information in proofs of quantumness. To address this issue, we formalize zero-knowledge proofs of quantumness. Intuitively, the zero-knowledge property necessitates that the information gained by the classical verifier from interactions with the quantum prover should not surpass what can be simulated using a simulated classical prover interacting with the same verifier. As a result, the new zero-knowledge notion can prevent a malicious verifier from exploiting quantum advantage. We find that the classical zero-knowledge proof is sufficient to compile some existing proofs of quantumness schemes into zero-knowledge proofs of quantumness schemes. It appears to be more general to require zero-knowledge proof on the verifier side instead of the prover side. This helps to regulate the verifier's behavior from malicious to be honest-but-curious. As a result, both parties will play not only one role in the proofs of quantumness but also the dual role in the classical zero-knowledge proof. Specifically, Shor's factoring-based scheme and the learning with errors-based scheme in [Brakerski et al., FOCS, 2018] can be transformed into zero-knowledge proofs of quantumness by requiring an extractable non-interactive zero-knowledge argument on the verifier side. Zero-knowledge proofs of quantumness can thus be viewed as an enhanced security notion for proofs of quantumness.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of cloud computing, ensuring secure user authentication and protection against cyber-attacks has become increasingly critical. This research proposes a novel security framework for cloud systems based on the Quantum Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technique, aiming to provide a privacy-preserving and quantum-resilient authentication mechanism. The core of the proposed model lies in leveraging photon polarization at specific quantum angles to implement secure and non-disclosive verification, effectively allowing users (provers) to prove their identity without revealing any sensitive credentials. The system's architecture integrates a Zero Knowledge Proof Engine (ZKE), which forms the backbone of the security protocol, enhancing resilience against Denial-of-Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. The quantum properties of photons enable a high level of randomness and unpredictability, significantly improving the robustness of the system. A Python-based simulation environment has been developed to model the proposed engine and conduct experimental validations. Furthermore, a web-based application interface has been designed to facilitate seamless interaction between cloud users and the authentication system, demonstrating real-time threat detection and response. Experimental results, visualized through performance metrics and interface output, confirm the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed model. This approach not only enhances security but also offers a scalable and user-friendly solution for modern cloud environments, marking a significant step toward integrating quantum principles into mainstream cybersecurity infrastructures.
Zero-Knowledge Cryptographic Verification (ZK) represents a significant advancement in secure communication, allowing a prover to demonstrate knowledge without revealing the underlying information. This paper explores a novel approach to ZK verification leveraging the principles of entangled state propagation. We propose a protocol that utilizes entanglement to establish a shared, verifiable state, and employs a quantum-enhanced algorithm to guarantee the state's consistency. This eliminates the need for direct data exchange, offering enhanced security and efficiency compared to traditional cryptographic methods. The core mechanism centers around the creation and manipulation of entangled states, which are then used to build a verifiable proof. This paper provides a detailed theoretical analysis and preliminary implementation of this protocol, demonstrating its potential for secure and efficient verification.
Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are widely applied in digital economies, such as cryptocurrencies and smart contracts, for establishing trust and privacy between untrusted parties. Classical ZKPs rely on computational assumptions and are vulnerable to quantum attacks. While a recent advance suggests quantum-sound symmetric relativistic ZKPs for the graph three-coloring problem without computational assumptions, the high round complexity, which leads to unachievable runtime and overall randomness cost, renders them impractical for real-life deployment. To overcome this, we develop an efficient asymmetric relativistic ZKP protocol using relativistic bit commitments, and prove its quantum soundness by relating it to the nonlocal Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) game. Our protocol achieves a linear relationship between the round complexity and the number of edges, and thus significantly improves practical feasibility. In addition, we implement a proof-of-principle experiment which completes all interactive rounds in about 0.22 seconds and requires an overall randomness cost of 430.81 MB. Our work illustrates the powerful potential of integrating special relativity with quantum theory in trustless cryptography, paving the way for robust applications against quantum attacks in distrustful Internet environments. Zero-knowledge proofs can protect privacy online, but almost all current methods are vulnerable to quantum attacks. Here, the authors report an efficient relativistic protocol and experiment that resists quantum attacks and greatly reduces runtime, randomness cost and communication rounds.