© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

arXiv:2610.16124

QIAP: A Quantum-Inspired Authentication Protocol with BB84-Based Channel Monitoring

Owais Ishtiaq Siddiqui, Nouhaila Innan, Hira Zaheer, Muhammad Shafique

On Aqora:

Muhammad Shafique

quant-phSubmitted Oct 12, 2026• Announced Oct 13, 2026• 0 citations

Abstract

Authentication in quantum-aware communication settings requires mechanisms that verify user legitimacy while also assessing whether the communication channel exhibits excessive disturbance. This paper presents QIAP, a stateful hybrid framework that combines classical commitment-based challenge-response authentication with BB84-based quantum-channel monitoring. QIAP uses a dual-branch verification structure inspired by rectilinear and diagonal basis selection. In the rectilinear branch, the prover opens a hash-based commitment and the verifier checks consistency with the registered round token. In the diagonal branch, the prover returns an HMAC tag bound to the verifier nonce, round identifier, and submitted commitment without disclosing the round-specific sub-secret. Under the stated hash, HMAC, freshness, secure-registration, protected-storage, and high-entropy-secret assumptions, QIAP provides computational resistance to the modeled wrong-secret and replay attempts and protects the long-term master secret from direct recovery. After successful authentication, the BB84 module estimates the quantum bit error rate (QBER) and aborts the session when the measured value reaches or exceeds the configured threshold. In the reported simulation, no successful authentication was observed among 1,000 tested wrong-secret attempts per branch. The baseline and full intercept-resend conditions produced mean QBER values of approximately 0.02 and 0.25, respectively. The classical authentication stage required approximately 0.6 ms, and the implemented authentication messages required approximately 113 bytes per round. These results indicate that QIAP can provide a lightweight hybrid framework for combining secret-based identity verification with QBER-based channel-disturbance assessment under the stated threat model.

Comments: 8 pages, 7 figures (Accepted by QAI26)

Related papers

A Quantum Blind Signature Integrated Hybrid Quantum Key Distribution Framework for Secure and Authenticated Quantum Communication

Taranjeet Kaur, Gaurav Bathla

The high pace of quantum computing development presents a serious risk to classical cryptographic systems like RSA and ECC in that quantum-resilient communication systems must be developed. The present paper will suggest Quantum Blind Signature-based Hybrid Quantum Key Distribution (QKD -QBS) to provide secure and authenticated quantum communication. The proposed architecture uses both BB84 and Decoy-State QKD protocols with Quantum Blind Signature (QBS) authentication layer in order to support quantum key generation and verification of entities in the same session. The framework is simulated and tested with IBM Qiskit Aer simulator in realistic channel noise situations. Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), Secret Key Retention (SKR), Quantum Entropy (H), Authentication Latency and Security Index (SI) are used as performance evaluation metrics. The experimental data show that the QBER is low (0.34%), SKR is high (92.4%), entropy is nearly ideal ($H=0.99$) with the lowest authentication latency (0.17 ms), which proves the fact that the integration of QBS does not reduce the efficiency of the key generation but the reliability of authentication. The hybrid framework proposed has information-theoretic security using the principles of quantum mechanics and strong resistance to impersonation, re-play and man in the middle attacks. The findings show that QKDQBS model provides a scalable and solid platform of next generation secure communication systems, such as IoT,$5 \mathrm{G} / 6 \mathrm{G}$networks, and cloud-based quantum systems.

International Conference on Computing for Sustainable Global Development•Apr 8, 2026•0 citations

Simulation and analysis of a QKD-PQC protocol for secure communication channel authentication

G. K. Sandhia, M Ranjani, Srivatsan K +2 more

Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.

•Mar 23, 2026•0 citations

Simulation and analysis of a QKD-PQC protocol for secure communication channel authentication

G. K. Sandhia, M Ranjani, Srivatsan K +2 more

Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.

EPJ Web of Conferences•Jan 1, 2026•0 citations

Development of A BB84-Based Quantum Security System

Pravin R. Kamble, Shriram Narkhede, Gayatri Bhosale +1 more

The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a serious threat to traditional cryptographic systems such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), which rely on computational difficulty for security. Quantum algorithms like Shor’s and Grover’s have the potential to break or weaken these methods, putting modern communication systems at risk. To address this challenge, this work presents a quantum-safe com-munication framework that combines the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) techniques, aiming to ensure secure data exchange in the presence of quantum-capable adversaries. In this system, the BB84 protocol is simulated to enable secure key exchange between two parties over a virtual quantum channel. The generated key is refined through processes such as basis matching, error correction, and privacy amplification using SHA-256 to ensure reliability and secrecy. For secur-ing communication, One-Time Pad (OTP) encryption is used alongside HMAC-SHA3-256 to provide both confidentiality and message integrity. Additionally, file encryption is handled using the XChaCha20-Poly1305 algorithm, selected for its efficiency and strong protection against potential vulnerabilities like nonce reuse. To further enhance security, the framework integrates a hybrid key management approach using the Kyber-512 Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) combined with a Key Deriva-tion Function (KDF), merging classical and quantum-resistant techniques. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the system, achieving a Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) of 2.5% and successful performance in both message and file en-cryption. Overall, this work contributes toward the development of practical and resilient communication systems designed for the emerging quantum era.

International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering Management & Applied Science•Jul 4, 2026•0 citations

Design and Implementation of a BB84-Based Two-Way Quantum Secure Communication System with AES-GCM Encryption

Abhijit Shirsath, Virendra Subhedar, Mayank Joshi, Dr. Vandana Rohakale

Quantum computing technologies are rapidly evolving and are expected to challenge the security of traditional cryptographicsystems in the near future. To address this issue, this research introduces a secure two-way communication framework based onthe BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol combined with AES-GCM encryption. The proposed system establishesquantum-generated secret keys between two communicating nodes and uses those keys for authenticated symmetric encryption.The implementation includes dynamic key pool management, automatic key regeneration, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER)analysis, eavesdropper detection, and real-time secure communication monitoring. A Streamlit-based graphical interface enablesvisualization of quantum transmission behavior, communication status, encrypted message exchange, and channel securitymetrics. Experimental observations show that the system successfully detects interception attempts through increased QBERwhile maintaining reliable communication under secure channel conditions. The developed framework demonstrates thepracticality of integrating quantum key exchange mechanisms with modern encryption methods for next-generation securecommunication systems.

•Jun 27, 2026•0 citations

Quantum-Secured Hybrid Communication System for Tactical Military Networks: Implementation and Performance Analysis of BB84 Protocol Based on Penny Lane

Sun-Jun Hwang

This paper proposes a quantum key distribution (QKD) based hybrid communication system for enhancing security in tactical military networks. Modern military communication networks face complex threats including jamming, eavesdropping, and potential cryptanalysis by quantum computers, necessitating a new security framework that combines quantum and classical cryptography. This study implements the BB84 protocol using the PennyLane quantum computing framework and quantitatively evaluates the effects of interception probability and channel noise on both the estimated Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) and the resulting secure key length after privacy amplification. Experimental results confirm that the session abort rate increases sharply as QBER approaches/exceeds the 11% threshold, and the secure key budget degrades to near-zero in high-threat conditions, which directly limits application-layer encryption continuity. By applying the generated quantum keys to AES-256-GCM encryption, we validate end-to-end hybrid operation and report system-level metrics such as the number of usable 256-bit keys per session and the corresponding rekeying capacity under varying threat and noise conditions.

한국통신학회논문지•Feb 27, 2026•0 citations

Authentication in quantum-aware communication settings requires mechanisms that verify user legitimacy while also assessing whether the communication channel exhibits excessive disturbance. This paper presents QIAP, a stateful hybrid framework that combines classical commitment-based challenge-response authentication with BB84-based quantum-channel monitoring. QIAP uses a dual-branch verification structure inspired by rectilinear and diagonal basis selection. In the rectilinear branch, the prover opens a hash-based commitment and the verifier checks consistency with the registered round token. In the diagonal branch, the prover returns an HMAC tag bound to the verifier nonce, round identifier, and submitted commitment without disclosing the round-specific sub-secret. Under the stated hash, HMAC, freshness, secure-registration, protected-storage, and high-entropy-secret assumptions, QIAP provides computational resistance to the modeled wrong-secret and replay attempts and protects the long-term master secret from direct recovery. After successful authentication, the BB84 module estimates the quantum bit error rate (QBER) and aborts the session when the measured value reaches or exceeds the configured threshold. In the reported simulation, no successful authentication was observed among 1,000 tested wrong-secret attempts per branch. The baseline and full intercept-resend conditions produced mean QBER values of approximately 0.02 and 0.25, respectively. The classical authentication stage required approximately 0.6 ms, and the implemented authentication messages required approximately 113 bytes per round. These results indicate that QIAP can provide a lightweight hybrid framework for combining secret-based identity verification with QBER-based channel-disturbance assessment under the stated threat model.

The high pace of quantum computing development presents a serious risk to classical cryptographic systems like RSA and ECC in that quantum-resilient communication systems must be developed. The present paper will suggest Quantum Blind Signature-based Hybrid Quantum Key Distribution (QKD -QBS) to provide secure and authenticated quantum communication. The proposed architecture uses both BB84 and Decoy-State QKD protocols with Quantum Blind Signature (QBS) authentication layer in order to support quantum key generation and verification of entities in the same session. The framework is simulated and tested with IBM Qiskit Aer simulator in realistic channel noise situations. Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), Secret Key Retention (SKR), Quantum Entropy (H), Authentication Latency and Security Index (SI) are used as performance evaluation metrics. The experimental data show that the QBER is low (0.34%), SKR is high (92.4%), entropy is nearly ideal (

H=0.99

) with the lowest authentication latency (0.17 ms), which proves the fact that the integration of QBS does not reduce the efficiency of the key generation but the reliability of authentication. The hybrid framework proposed has information-theoretic security using the principles of quantum mechanics and strong resistance to impersonation, re-play and man in the middle attacks. The findings show that QKDQBS model provides a scalable and solid platform of next generation secure communication systems, such as IoT,

5 \mathrm{G} / 6 \mathrm{G}

networks, and cloud-based quantum systems.

Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.

Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.

The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a serious threat to traditional cryptographic systems such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), which rely on computational difficulty for security. Quantum algorithms like Shor’s and Grover’s have the potential to break or weaken these methods, putting modern communication systems at risk. To address this challenge, this work presents a quantum-safe com-munication framework that combines the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) techniques, aiming to ensure secure data exchange in the presence of quantum-capable adversaries. In this system, the BB84 protocol is simulated to enable secure key exchange between two parties over a virtual quantum channel. The generated key is refined through processes such as basis matching, error correction, and privacy amplification using SHA-256 to ensure reliability and secrecy. For secur-ing communication, One-Time Pad (OTP) encryption is used alongside HMAC-SHA3-256 to provide both confidentiality and message integrity. Additionally, file encryption is handled using the XChaCha20-Poly1305 algorithm, selected for its efficiency and strong protection against potential vulnerabilities like nonce reuse. To further enhance security, the framework integrates a hybrid key management approach using the Kyber-512 Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) combined with a Key Deriva-tion Function (KDF), merging classical and quantum-resistant techniques. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the system, achieving a Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) of 2.5% and successful performance in both message and file en-cryption. Overall, this work contributes toward the development of practical and resilient communication systems designed for the emerging quantum era.

Quantum computing technologies are rapidly evolving and are expected to challenge the security of traditional cryptographicsystems in the near future. To address this issue, this research introduces a secure two-way communication framework based onthe BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol combined with AES-GCM encryption. The proposed system establishesquantum-generated secret keys between two communicating nodes and uses those keys for authenticated symmetric encryption.The implementation includes dynamic key pool management, automatic key regeneration, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER)analysis, eavesdropper detection, and real-time secure communication monitoring. A Streamlit-based graphical interface enablesvisualization of quantum transmission behavior, communication status, encrypted message exchange, and channel securitymetrics. Experimental observations show that the system successfully detects interception attempts through increased QBERwhile maintaining reliable communication under secure channel conditions. The developed framework demonstrates thepracticality of integrating quantum key exchange mechanisms with modern encryption methods for next-generation securecommunication systems.

This paper proposes a quantum key distribution (QKD) based hybrid communication system for enhancing security in tactical military networks. Modern military communication networks face complex threats including jamming, eavesdropping, and potential cryptanalysis by quantum computers, necessitating a new security framework that combines quantum and classical cryptography. This study implements the BB84 protocol using the PennyLane quantum computing framework and quantitatively evaluates the effects of interception probability and channel noise on both the estimated Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) and the resulting secure key length after privacy amplification. Experimental results confirm that the session abort rate increases sharply as QBER approaches/exceeds the 11% threshold, and the secure key budget degrades to near-zero in high-threat conditions, which directly limits application-layer encryption continuity. By applying the generated quantum keys to AES-256-GCM encryption, we validate end-to-end hybrid operation and report system-level metrics such as the number of usable 256-bit keys per session and the corresponding rekeying capacity under varying threat and noise conditions.