This paper discusses the quantum one-way function and the information-splitting principle,proposes an identity authentication and key distribution protocol.It uses the trusted server provides random dentity and completes the final confirmation of the protocol.Key distribution is interspersed in the authentication process.Quantum one-way function can improve the authentication security.Experimental results show that the quantum communication technology about the protocol is easy to implement and can improve the efficiency of key distribution.
This paper discusses the quantum one-way function and the information-splitting principle,proposes an identity authentication and key distribution protocol.It uses the trusted server provides random dentity and completes the final confirmation of the protocol.Key distribution is interspersed in the authentication process.Quantum one-way function can improve the authentication security.Experimental results show that the quantum communication technology about the protocol is easy to implement and can improve the efficiency of key distribution.
Abstract Quantum key distribution uses the principle of quantum physics to realize unconditionally secure key distribution protocol. But this kind of security needs to be based on the authenticated classical channel. Although there are quantum key distribution protocols without classical channel, authentication is still needed. In the process of key distribution, authentication is not considered, which is also a problem of quantum key distribution protocol. In this paper, a quantum key distribution protocol with two-way authentication is proposed. Identity authentication is carried out at the same time of key distribution. If the identity authentication fails, the key distribution protocol cannot be carried out. If the key distribution protocol is aborted, the identity authentication is not successful. The conclusion of this paper is based on a central authentication system supported by symmetric encryption theory, which uses pseudo-random functions, multiple sets of quantum conjugate bases and Measurement-device-independent technology to simultaneously achieve two-way authentication and key distribution.
A deniable authentication protocol enables a receiver to identify the true source of given message, but not to prove the identity of the sender to a third party.This property is very useful for providing secure negotiation over the Internet.Recently, Shi et al. proposed a quantum deniable authentication protocol based on the property of unitary transformation and quantum one-way function.A trusted center (TC) is introduced in their protocol, and a much amount of quantum resources, such as entanglement, quantum memory and quantum one-way function, are required.In this paper, a deniable authentication protocol without a trust center is proposed based on the quantum key distribution (QKD).In the presented protocol, the QKD is used firstly to share a secret key between the sender and the receiver.Then, the shared key is used to identify the true source of sender's message by the receiver.Finally, the simulation based proof shows that the receiver cannot prove the identity of the sender to any third party.
In the practical distribution process of quantum key, the transmission loss and efficiency of detectors have a direct impact on the efficiency of key generation. The quantum identity authentication requires both communication sides to ensure the integrity of the authentication information. Considering the problems above, a quantum identity authentication protocol based on photon polarization rotation is proposed, in which repetition coding is used to solve the problem of transmission loss. In order to guarantee the security of protocol, random states are inserted into the adjacencies of the useful authentication quantum states. Security analysis shows that the protocol can successfully resist the intercept-resent attack and beam-splitting attack. Furthermore, a useful authentication system practicable under present technical conditions is designed. It is helpful in applications that transmission loss and detection efficiency are taken into consideration.
The absolute security of quantum communication protocols relies on a critical premise: all participating parties are legitimate users. Ensuring the legitimacy of participant identities is paramount in complex real-world communication environments. Quantum identity authentication (QIA), in which fundamental principles of quantum mechanics are used to achieve unilateral or mutual authentication between communicating parties, constitutes an indispensable core component for building a comprehensive quantum secure communication system. It holds significant research value in the field of quantum communication. This review employs a comparative classification method to systematically outline the research trajectory of QIA protocols. By categorizing protocols based on the required quantum resources and the types of quantum protocols employed, the advantages and disadvantages of various categories are analyzed in terms of efficiency, security, and practicality. Single-photon protocols require low resources, and they are easy to implement, and compatible with existing optical components, but require high-efficiency single-photon detectors and exhibit weak noise resistance. Entangled-state protocols offer high security and strong resistance to eavesdropping, particularly suitable for long-distance or multi-party authentication. However, they greatly depend on the preparation and maintenance of high-precision, stable multi-particle entanglement sources, resulting in high experimental complexity. Continuous-variable (CV) protocols achieve high transmission efficiency in short-distance metropolitan area networks and are compatible with classical optical communication equipment, making experiments relatively straightforward. Yet, they require high-precision modulation technology and are sensitive to channel loss. Hybrid protocols aim to balance resource efficiency and security while reducing reliance on a single quantum source, but their design is complex and may introduce new attack vectors. Quantum key distribution (QKD) framework protocols embed identity authentication in the key distribution process, making them suitable for scenarios requiring long-term secure key distribution, although they often depend on pre-shared keys or trusted third parties. Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) framework protocols integrate authentication with secure direct information transmission, offering high efficiency for real-time communication, but requiring high channel quality. Measurement-device-independent QSDC (MDI-QSDC) represents a key development direction that can resist attacks on measurement devices. Quantum teleportation (QT) framework protocols achieves cross-node authentication and unconditional security, making it suitable for quantum relay networks despite its high experimental complexity. The entanglement swapping framework protocol can resist conspiracy attacks and is suitable for multi-party joint scenarios, but it consumes a lot of resources and relies on trusted third party. Ping-pong protocol framework supports dynamic key updates and exhibits strong resistance to eavesdropping, making it suitable for temporary authentication on mobile terminals, although it typically only supports unilateral authentication and requires a bidirectional channel. Subsequently, this review details the latest QIA protocols of our research group, including a multi-party synchronous identity authentication protocol based on Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states, and a tripartite QSDC protocol with identity authentication capabilities utilizing polarization-spatial super-coding. The GHZ-based multi-party synchronous authentication protocol leverages the strong correlations inherent in GHZ states to achieve simultaneous authentication among multiple parties. Through a carefully designed two-round decoy-state detection mechanism, it effectively resists both external eavesdropping and internal attacks originating from authenticated users, thereby enhancing the efficiency and security of identity management in large-scale quantum networks. The core innovation of the polarization-spatial super-coding tripartite QSDC protocol lies in its deep integration of the authentication process with information transmission by utilizing the spatial degrees of freedom of single photons. This design accomplishes the identity verification of two senders and the transmission of secret information within a single protocol run, ensuring end-to-end security through a three-stage security check. This “authentication-as-communication” paradigm significantly improves the overall efficiency and practicality of the protocol. Its successful implementation also relies on advancements in quantum memory technology. Finally, the review outlines future research directions for quantum identity authentication and explores its potential applications in quantum communication. The QIA research needs to focus on reducing resource dependency, exploring more efficient protocol designs, further enhancing protocol integration and robustness, prioritizing the development of protocols adaptable to real-world environments, and actively investigating integration with novel scenarios. This comprehensive review aims to provide theoretical research foundations and technical support for the practical development of future quantum identity authentication.
This paper has developed a quantum authentication protocol along with the encryption encapsulation by entangled photon states that are forwarded from a trusted server to two users. It is shown to provide second tier security against impersonation and eavesdropping but with the ease of decryption limited only for two legitimate users. In this process, qutrit photon states are used to identity encryption and a one-way-function containing the phase information of the trits is used for basis selection. The protocol is analyzed to test different eavesdropping strategies and is found to provide unconditional security.
In cryptography, an identity authentication protocol can be used to identify the legitimation of users in communication. Usually, it is totally irrelative with key distribution protocol. From this point of view, we introduce a novel mutual identity authentication scheme on the basis of measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol, which utilizes the monogamous property of the Bell states. As a result, our proposed protocol can achieve identity authentication and key distribution in one round. Besides, we merge the estimation of error rate into the processing of identity authentication, it can make MDI-QKD more efficient. What's more, according to the simulation result, the protocol can work well in a noisy environment. Also due to the property of hash functions, it can be implemented efficiently with software.