The development of information society, which led to an impressive increase of the volume of information, mostly economic, which was circulated in computer networks, accelerated the development and especially the use of modern cryptography tools. The role of modern cryptography is to assure by specific mathematical means, both theoretically and practically, the four basic characteristics of information: confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, and nonrepudiation. This paper presents a series of results obtained within an ample project, whose purpose is to integrate devices based on quantum properties, in order to gradually replace the current classical equipment which becomes vulnerable, and also to develop software applications. The results were obtained as a result of performance and testing of an experimental model which implements an architecture of client-server type, and which integrates a quantum random number generator in the mechanism of obtaining the cryptographic key.
The development of information society, which led to an impressive increase of the volume of information, mostly economic, which was circulated in computer networks, accelerated the development and especially the use of modern cryptography tools. The role of modern cryptography is to assure by specific mathematical means, both theoretically and practically, the four basic characteristics of information: confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, and nonrepudiation. This paper presents a series of results obtained within an ample project, whose purpose is to integrate devices based on quantum properties, in order to gradually replace the current classical equipment which becomes vulnerable, and also to develop software applications. The results were obtained as a result of performance and testing of an experimental model which implements an architecture of client-server type, and which integrates a quantum random number generator in the mechanism of obtaining the cryptographic key.
A random number generator produces a periodic sequence of numbers on a computer. The starting point can be random, but after it is chosen, everything else is deterministic. A random number generator produces a periodic sequence of numbers on a computer. The starting point can be random, but after it is chosen, everything else is deterministic. This paper presents the entropy and p-value tests performed on classical and quantum random number generators, in order to check the randomness of the generated output data. Both generators have been integrated in software applications reproducing asymmetrical cryptosystems, their results contributing to the generation of key material within Diffie-Hellman protocol. Can regard these tests as a first step in determining if a generator is suitable for a particular cryptographic application. At the same time, the statistical tests cannot serve as a substitute for cryptanalysis.
The development of modern computer technologies endangers the confidentiality of information, which is usually ensured by traditional cryptographic means. This circumstance forces us to look for new methods of protection. In view of modern trends, quantum cryptography methods can become such alternatives, which allow solving a number of important cryptographic problems, for which the impossibility of solving using only classical (that is, non-quantum) communication has been proven. Quantum cryptography is a branch of quantum informatics that studies methods of protecting information by using quantum carriers. The possibility of such protection is ensured by the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. One of the promising directions of quantum cryptography is Quantum Secure Direct Communication (QSDC) that offers secure communication without any shared key. A characteristic feature of this method is the absence of cryptographic transformations, accordingly, there is no key distribution problem. The purpose of this work is a general overview of quantum cryptography protocols, finding their weak points for further development and improvement, as well as identifying vulnerabilities to different attacks. The article analyzes new methods and protocols, as well as presents their advantages and disadvantages. Based on partial generalizations of theoretical provisions and practical achievements in the field of quantum cryptography, a generalized classification was developed. By comparing various factors of the protocols, and their resistance to certain cyberattacks, we have the opportunity to identify several problems in this field and expand the possibilities for choosing appropriate methods for building modern quantum information protection systems. In accordance with this, conclusions were presented regarding the use of protocols and increasing the level of their effectiveness.
The generation of random numbers and the study of its properties have been an elusive field for a fair portion of the century. The application of random numbers is employed in many use cases such as cryptography, neural networks, numerical simulation, and gambling. The performance of each of these use cases is profoundly impacted by the employed random numbers; henceforth, the quality of randomness is of critical importance when it comes to their usage. A poorly generated random number can make a security system vulnerable, or any numerical or statistical evaluation misleading. Although various modes of classical random number generators exist and still function to provide strong cryptographic properties, emergence of quantum mechanical randomness has shed light on a novel path of generating certified randomness which supersedes the classical counterpart in terms of security. Harnessing quantum mechanical phenomena enables generation of true random numbers which can be certified and further implemented to elevate the net quality of the specific use cases. In this work, we generate and analyze random numbers from three different sources — 50: 50 beam splitter (BS), quantum key distribution (QKD) setup with classical post-processing scheme, and a commercially available quantum random number generator (QRNG) (ID Quantique (IDQ)). The quality of the generated random numbers from the various sources is checked in statistical tests and compared. Further on, we have developed a system which implements the QRNG-based random numbers to facilitate message authentication code (MAC) and one time password (OTP) protocols, demonstrating a communication network application. In this manner we discuss about a network which integrates quantum mechanics to the current classical networking approaches to enhance certain aspects of the networking protocol — in this case, the security.
Cryptography is the study and practice of secure communication with digital data and focuses on confidentiality, integrity, and authentication. Random number generators (RNGs) generate random numbers to enhance security. Even though the cryptographic algorithms are public and their strength depends on the keys, cryptoanalysis of encrypted ciphers can significantly contribute to the unveiling of the cipher’s key. Therefore, to ensure high data security over a network, researchers need to improve the randomness of keys as they develop cryptosystems. Quantum particles have a leading edge in advancing RNG technology as they can provide true randomness, unlike pseudo-random numbers generators (PRNGs). In order to increase the level of the security of cryptographic systems based on random numbers, this survey focuses on three objectives: Cryptosystems with related cryptographic attacks, RNG-based cryptosystems, and the design of quantum random number generators (QRNGs). This survey aims to provide researchers with information about the importance of RNG-based ciphers and various research techniques for QRNGs that can incorporate quantum-based true randomness in cryptosystems.
Basic security requirements such as confidentiality, user authentication and data integrity, are assured by using public-key cryptography (PKC). In particular, public-key signature schemes provide non-repudiation, integrity of transmitted messages and authentication. The presence of a large scale quantum computer would be a real threat to break the most widely used public-key cryptographic algorithms in practice, RSA, DSA, ECDSA signature schemes and Diffie-Hellman key exchange. Thus, all security protocols and applications where these public-key cryptographic algorithms are used are vulnerable to quantum-computer attacks. There are five directions of cryptographic primitives secure against a quantum computer: multivariate quadratic equation-based, hash-based, lattice-based, code-based and supersingular isogeny-based cryptography. These primitives could serve as replacements for current public-key cryptographic algorithms to prepare for post-quantum era. It is important to prioritize the fields to be replaced by post-quantum cryptography (PQC) since it is hard to replace the currently deployed PKC with PQC at the same time. The fields directly connected to human life such as vehicular communications should be the primary targets of PQC applications. This survey is dedicated to providing guidelines for adapting the most suitable post-quantum candidates to the requirements of various devices and suggesting efficient and physically secure implementations that can be built into existing embedded applications as easily as traditional PKC. It focuses on the five types of post-quantum signature schemes and investigates their theoretical backgrounds, structures, state-of-the-art constructions and implementation aspects on various platforms raging from resource constrained IoT devices to powerful servers connected to the devices for secure communications in post-quantum era. It offers appropriate solutions to find tradeoffs between key sizes, signature lengths, performance, and security for practical applications.
Nowadays information technologies are widespread and used in every computer-based system, hence information security tasks are quite important and their successful solution is required in business process. Cryptographic means are used in different applications, especially in cases when data confidentiality should be provided; although they can be utilized to maintain data availability and integrity, user's anonymity, author's non-repudiation and so on. Many information security tools use random numbers, but unfortunately, quality of output random numbers and speed of their generation do not satisfy modern requirements. The rate of production-run random number generators is limited by the physical processes used. One of the reasons of low random numbers generating rate is application of binary events. Many generators use analog events, e.g. noise in electronic devices, converted to binary numbers utilizing the threshold value or quantum discrete events, e.g. photon passing through the polarizer. The main idea of this work is that one can increase random number generator's rate using the non-binary sequences, e.g. non-binary quantum processes.