Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

IEEE Photonics Conference

Tamper-indicating quantum optical seals

Travis S. Humble, Duncan Earl, Brian P. Williams

Published Sep 1, 2012• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate a quantum optical seal using entangled photons to monitor the integrity of a fiber-optic channel subject to tampering. This application of quantum photonics provides a basis for physical layer security in cyber-physical systems.
DOI
10.1109/ipcon.2012.6358699

Related papers

Quantum security for the physical layer

Travis S. Humble

The physical layer describes how communication signals are encoded and transmitted across a channel. Physical security often requires either restricting access to the channel or performing periodic manual inspections. In this tutorial, we describe how the field of quantum communication offers new techniques for securing the physical layer. We describe the use of quantum seals as a unique way to test the integrity and authenticity of a communication channel and to provide security for the physical layer. We present the theoretical and physical underpinnings of quantum seals including the quantum optical encoding used at the transmitter and the test for non-locality used at the receiver. We describe how the envisioned quantum physical sublayer senses tampering and how coordination with higher protocol layers allows quantum seals to influence secure routing or tailor data management methods. We conclude by discussing challenges in the development of quantum seals, the overlap with existing quantum key distribution cryptographic services, and the relevance of a quantum physical sublayer to the future of communication security.

arXiv:1407.4509•IEEE Communications Magazine•Aug 1, 2013•40 citations

Fiber-Optic Quantum Seal.

Junji Urayama

We report on our development of the fiber-optic quantum seal (FOQS) which will provide highsensitivity detection capabilities for tamper events at bulk storage facilities to enhance safeguards verification efforts.Long-term verification of critical assets in storage facilities for the containment and surveillance mission area must provide material accountancy with assurance of security and continuity of knowledge.As a part of this effort, future monitoring systems may incorporate networked sensors to perform status checks on individual or collection of containers.FOQC enhances current practices by making use of quantum optical probes to enable channel integrity checks and sensor data authentication.Encoded light pulses in the fiber channels will monitor for intrusions while decoding of these pulses will provide data authentication.FOQS consists of an interferometric quantum transceiver which transmits randomly encoded packets of photons over a fiber loop used to seal a container.These photon packets return to the receiver to be decoded for amplitude and phase information.Comparisons of the transmit and receive signals allow for the characterization of the channel.If the comparison shows high degree of correlation, channel integrity and authentication are deemed true, while a lack of correlation triggers an intrusion alarm.The key advantage that FOQS has is that the quantum probes are governed by the uncertainty principle which prevents the intruder from attacking the channel without leaving a trace.This trace will be used to detect the attack attempt.Experimental work will be discussed for the seal development, and theoretical analysis for enhanced security will be presented in the hypothesis-test framework.

•Nov 3, 2023•0 citations

Quantum monitored long-distance secure optical network

Yupeng Gong, Rupesh Kumar, A. Wonfor +2 more

We report a method for monitoring physical layer security in optical fiber communication using a modulated quantum signal.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 2018•2 citations

Fiber-Optic Quantum Seal For Safeguards.

Junji Urayama

We report new results on our development of the fiber-optic quantum seal (FOQS) which will provide high-sensitivity tamper detection capabilities at nuclear facilities to enhance safeguards verification efforts.Long-term verification of critical assets in storage facilities for containment and surveillance must provide material accountancy with continuity of knowledge.As a part of this effort, FOQC will enhance current practices by making use of quantum optical probes to enable fiber-channel integrity checks and sensor data authentication.FOQS consists of an interferometric quantum transceiver which transmits randomly encoded packets of photons over an optical fiber loop used to seal a container.These photon packets return to the receiver to be decoded for field quadrature information.Comparisons of the transmit and receive signals allow for the characterization of the channel.If the comparison shows high degree of correlation, channel integrity and authentication are deemed true, while a lack of correlation triggers an intrusion alarm.The key advantage of the FOQS is that the quantum probes are governed by the uncertainty principle which prevents the intruder from attacking the channel without leaving a trace.We present new results obtained in years two and three of this project, including improvements in the experimental system, automated numerical analysis of obtained experimental data, and extended theoretical analysis of the FOQS sensitivity under realistic conditions.These capabilities increase seal sensitivity and enables detection of data falsification attacks.SNL is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.SAND2022-XXXX C.

•Nov 6, 2023•0 citations

A Quantum Technique for Monitoring Physical Layer Security of Optical Communication

Yupeng Gong

Optical fibre networks are advancing rapidly to meet growing traffic demands. Security issues, including attack management, have become increasingly important for optical communication networks owing to the vulnerabilities associated with tapping light from optical fibre link. Physical layer security often requires restricting access to the channel and periodic inspection of the link performance. In this thesis, we report how quantum communication techniques can be utilized to detect a physical layer attack. We present an efficient method for monitoring the physical layer security of a high data rate classical optical communication network using a modulated continuous variable quantum signal. We describe the theoretical and experimental underpinnings of this monitoring system, and the monitoring accuracy for different monitored parameters. We analyze its performance in both unamplified and amplified optical links. The technique represents a novel approach in applying quantum signal processing to practical optical communication networks and compares well with classical monitoring methods. We also discuss the challenges in its practical application, its difference with existing quantum key distribution, and its usage in future secure optical transport network planning.

•Feb 28, 2020•0 citations

Secure optical communication using a quantum alarm

Yupeng Gong, Rupesh Kumar, A. Wonfor +3 more

Optical fibre networks are advancing rapidly to meet growing traffic demands. Security issues, including attack management, have become increasingly important for optical communication networks because of the vulnerabilities associated with tapping light from optical fibre links. Physical layer security often requires restricting access to channels and periodic inspections of link performance. In this paper, we report how quantum communication techniques can be utilized to detect a physical layer attack. We present an efficient method for monitoring the physical layer security of a high-data-rate classical optical communication network using a modulated continuous-variable quantum signal. We describe the theoretical and experimental underpinnings of this monitoring system and the monitoring accuracy for different monitored parameters. We analyse its performance for both unamplified and amplified optical links. The technique represents a novel approach for applying quantum signal processing to practical optical communication networks and compares well with classical monitoring methods. We conclude by discussing the challenges facing its practical application, its differences with respect to existing quantum key distribution methods, and its usage in future secure optical transport network planning.

Light Science & Applications•Oct 2, 2020•20 citations
The physical layer describes how communication signals are encoded and transmitted across a channel. Physical security often requires either restricting access to the channel or performing periodic manual inspections. In this tutorial, we describe how the field of quantum communication offers new techniques for securing the physical layer. We describe the use of quantum seals as a unique way to test the integrity and authenticity of a communication channel and to provide security for the physical layer. We present the theoretical and physical underpinnings of quantum seals including the quantum optical encoding used at the transmitter and the test for non-locality used at the receiver. We describe how the envisioned quantum physical sublayer senses tampering and how coordination with higher protocol layers allows quantum seals to influence secure routing or tailor data management methods. We conclude by discussing challenges in the development of quantum seals, the overlap with existing quantum key distribution cryptographic services, and the relevance of a quantum physical sublayer to the future of communication security.
We report on our development of the fiber-optic quantum seal (FOQS) which will provide highsensitivity detection capabilities for tamper events at bulk storage facilities to enhance safeguards verification efforts.Long-term verification of critical assets in storage facilities for the containment and surveillance mission area must provide material accountancy with assurance of security and continuity of knowledge.As a part of this effort, future monitoring systems may incorporate networked sensors to perform status checks on individual or collection of containers.FOQC enhances current practices by making use of quantum optical probes to enable channel integrity checks and sensor data authentication.Encoded light pulses in the fiber channels will monitor for intrusions while decoding of these pulses will provide data authentication.FOQS consists of an interferometric quantum transceiver which transmits randomly encoded packets of photons over a fiber loop used to seal a container.These photon packets return to the receiver to be decoded for amplitude and phase information.Comparisons of the transmit and receive signals allow for the characterization of the channel.If the comparison shows high degree of correlation, channel integrity and authentication are deemed true, while a lack of correlation triggers an intrusion alarm.The key advantage that FOQS has is that the quantum probes are governed by the uncertainty principle which prevents the intruder from attacking the channel without leaving a trace.This trace will be used to detect the attack attempt.Experimental work will be discussed for the seal development, and theoretical analysis for enhanced security will be presented in the hypothesis-test framework.
We report new results on our development of the fiber-optic quantum seal (FOQS) which will provide high-sensitivity tamper detection capabilities at nuclear facilities to enhance safeguards verification efforts.Long-term verification of critical assets in storage facilities for containment and surveillance must provide material accountancy with continuity of knowledge.As a part of this effort, FOQC will enhance current practices by making use of quantum optical probes to enable fiber-channel integrity checks and sensor data authentication.FOQS consists of an interferometric quantum transceiver which transmits randomly encoded packets of photons over an optical fiber loop used to seal a container.These photon packets return to the receiver to be decoded for field quadrature information.Comparisons of the transmit and receive signals allow for the characterization of the channel.If the comparison shows high degree of correlation, channel integrity and authentication are deemed true, while a lack of correlation triggers an intrusion alarm.The key advantage of the FOQS is that the quantum probes are governed by the uncertainty principle which prevents the intruder from attacking the channel without leaving a trace.We present new results obtained in years two and three of this project, including improvements in the experimental system, automated numerical analysis of obtained experimental data, and extended theoretical analysis of the FOQS sensitivity under realistic conditions.These capabilities increase seal sensitivity and enables detection of data falsification attacks.SNL is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.SAND2022-XXXX C.
Optical fibre networks are advancing rapidly to meet growing traffic demands. Security issues, including attack management, have become increasingly important for optical communication networks owing to the vulnerabilities associated with tapping light from optical fibre link. Physical layer security often requires restricting access to the channel and periodic inspection of the link performance. In this thesis, we report how quantum communication techniques can be utilized to detect a physical layer attack. We present an efficient method for monitoring the physical layer security of a high data rate classical optical communication network using a modulated continuous variable quantum signal. We describe the theoretical and experimental underpinnings of this monitoring system, and the monitoring accuracy for different monitored parameters. We analyze its performance in both unamplified and amplified optical links. The technique represents a novel approach in applying quantum signal processing to practical optical communication networks and compares well with classical monitoring methods. We also discuss the challenges in its practical application, its difference with existing quantum key distribution, and its usage in future secure optical transport network planning.
Optical fibre networks are advancing rapidly to meet growing traffic demands. Security issues, including attack management, have become increasingly important for optical communication networks because of the vulnerabilities associated with tapping light from optical fibre links. Physical layer security often requires restricting access to channels and periodic inspections of link performance. In this paper, we report how quantum communication techniques can be utilized to detect a physical layer attack. We present an efficient method for monitoring the physical layer security of a high-data-rate classical optical communication network using a modulated continuous-variable quantum signal. We describe the theoretical and experimental underpinnings of this monitoring system and the monitoring accuracy for different monitored parameters. We analyse its performance for both unamplified and amplified optical links. The technique represents a novel approach for applying quantum signal processing to practical optical communication networks and compares well with classical monitoring methods. We conclude by discussing the challenges facing its practical application, its differences with respect to existing quantum key distribution methods, and its usage in future secure optical transport network planning.