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International Journal of Quantum Information

Evaluation of eavesdropping error-rates in higher-dimensional QKD system implemented using dynamic spatial modes

Muhammad Kamran, Tahir Malik, Muhammad Mubashir Khan

Published Sep 1, 2021• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Secure exchange of cryptographic keys is extremely important for any communication system where security and privacy of data is desirable. Although classical cryptographic algorithms provide computationally secure methods for secret key exchange, quantum key distribution (QKD) provides an extraordinary means to this end by guaranteeing unconditional security. Any malicious interception of communication by a man-in-the-middle on a QKD link immediately alerts sender and receiver by introducing an unavoidable error-rate. Higher-dimensional QKD protocols such as KMB09 exhibit higher eavesdropping error-rates with improved intrusion detection but their practical implementation is still awaited. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of KMB09 protocol using Laguerre–Gaussian orbital angular momentum to demonstrate and highlight the advantages of using dynamic spatial modes in QKD system. A complete error-rate analysis of KMB09 protocol implementation is presented with two different types of eavesdropping error-rates. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the decoy state method to show the robustness of the protocol against photon-number-splitting attack.

DOI
10.1142/s0219749921500301

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Secure exchange of cryptographic keys is extremely important for any communication system where security and privacy of data is desirable. Although classical cryptographic algorithms provide computationally secure methods for secret key exchange, quantum key distribution (QKD) provides an extraordinary means to this end by guaranteeing unconditional security. Any malicious interception of communication by a man-in-the-middle on a QKD link immediately alerts sender and receiver by introducing an unavoidable error-rate. Higher-dimensional QKD protocols such as KMB09 exhibit higher eavesdropping error-rates with improved intrusion detection but their practical implementation is still awaited. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of KMB09 protocol using Laguerre–Gaussian orbital angular momentum to demonstrate and highlight the advantages of using dynamic spatial modes in QKD system. A complete error-rate analysis of KMB09 protocol implementation is presented with two different types of eavesdropping error-rates. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the decoy state method to show the robustness of the protocol against photon-number-splitting attack.
Employing the fundamental laws of quantum physics, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) promises the unconditionally secure distribution of cryptographic keys. However, in practical realisations, a QKD protocol is only secure, when the quantum bit error rate introduced by an eavesdropper unavoidably exceeds the system error rate. This condition guarantees that an eavesdropper cannot disguise his presence by simply replacing the original transmission line with a less faulty one. Unfortunately, this condition also limits the possible distance between the communicating parties, Alice and Bob, to a few hundred kilometers. To overcome this problem, we design a QKD protocol which allows Alice and Bob to distinguish system errors from eavesdropping errors. If they are able to identify the origin of their errors, they can detect eavesdropping even when the system error rate exceeds the eavesdropping error rate. To achieve this, the proposed protocol employs an alternative encoding of information in two-dimensional photon states. Errors manifest themselves as quantum bit and as index transmission errors with a distinct correlation between them in case of intercept-resend eavesdropping. As a result, Alice and Bob can tolerate lower eavesdropping and higher system error rates without compromising their privacy.
Quantum key distribution(QKD) has emerged as a secure solution of secret key distribution utilizing the well established theories of modern physics. Since its introduction in 1984, many interesting and innovative ideas have been proposed for QKD in order to improve the security and efficiency of the scheme keeping in view of its applications and practicalimplementation. High error rate QKD scheme for long distance communication-theso-called KMB09 protocol is one such scheme which was designed to achieve longer communication distance in QKD, without compromising its security,by allowing the utilisation of higher dimensional photon states which is not possible with standard BB84 scheme. However the practical implementation of KMB09 protocol has not been presented yet because of its unique design. In this paper, we propose a framework for the practical implementation of QKD system that runs KMB09 protocol in two or more dimensions of photon states. We present the KMB09 based QKD system design and its simulation for practical implementation based on the encoding of secret bits in higher order Gaussian beam spatial modes. The proposed framework is specifically evaluated in terms of efficiency or success rate with two and four dimensions of photon states. We find that the simulation results of the proposed framework are inline with the numerical and analytical results of the same QKD model presented earlier.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is an unconditionally secure way of sharing secret cryptographic keys on a public channel. Recently, high dimension QKD protocols have gained focus to achieve better security against various attack models. Here, we focus on the robustness of high dimensional QKD protocol against two realistic attack models, i.e. photon number splitting (PNS) attack and beam splitter (BS) attack. We present the high dimensional quantum key distribution system that incorporates a decoy-state scheme with complex structured light (OAM modes) using the KMB09 protocol. The complete QKD system design with experimental setup details and evaluation results are presented. The experimental results show that our proposed decoy-state scheme is robust against both PNS and BS attacks.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) provides an innovative approach for secure communication by utilizing the principles of quantum mechanics. Among various QKD protocols, the BB84 protocol remains the most widely studied and implemented due to its simplicity and theoretical security guarantees. However, practical implementations of BB84 are vulnerable to several eavesdropping attacks and channel imperfections. This paper presents a comprehensive study on the detection and analysis of eavesdropping attacks in the BB84 protocol. The work focuses on common attacks such as intercept-resend attack, photon-number splitting attack, Trojan horse attack, and phase-covariant cloning attack. The effect of these attacks on Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) is analyzed in detail. Simulation-based observations are discussed to demonstrate how QBER increases under malicious interference. The study further explores statistical methods for detecting eavesdropping and examines practical countermeasures including decoy states, privacy amplification, and error correction techniques. The paper concludes that BB84 remains robust against eavesdropping when proper detection and mitigation mechanisms are employed.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) which is the name of cryptography in quantum environment act as the highest developed area in quantum communication and computing technology (QCIT). \n \nQKD is inventive technology which utilize the laws of quantum to create a cryptographic share key to make the communication system secure. The unique feature of QKD assures eavesdropping detectable during quantum communications which is fascinating for a high-level secure environment.Most of the traditional cryptographic methods which we use currently are based on mathematical scheme or Computational complexity theory which are not completely safe. Using quantum cryptography has been achieved extensive steps in communication security establishment. As the information Unit has been changed from “bit” to Quantum bit (Qubit), a new element has been offered that can guarantee the shared information confidentiality between parties. The confidentiality of system is established via exchanging a secret key through a channel of quantum, the key which we use for encrypting the shared data. This structure has quantum integration which has been developed by physics law and techniques of cryptography. \n \nThis thesis has proposed a modified version of QKD protocol, this new protocol will generate a cryptographic share key for a more efficient, lower cost and secure communication between two parties (sender and Receiver). This new protocol principal is similar to BBM92, but the source of photon moved to sender instead of third-party photon generator, following steps will be executed in this Experiment: \n \n•\tObserve different categories protocols of QKD in details \n•\tThe Quantum Mechanics Visualisation Project (QuVis) is the simulation software that has been used for implementing the proposed protocol [BB84 with spin] among the other three (BBM92, B92 and BB84). \n•\tProbability ratio of error will be tested and compared for all protocols, for this experiment 100 to 5000 photons will be sent. \n \nBy Analysing collected data in this experiment, it will be determined which one of this four protocols lead the detecting of eavesdropping. Simulation software accomplishes the value of error key probability which receiver can use and should not pass over the range limit of 0.25 & 0.5.
Essential role of Internet-based communication is the security of information. Classical Cryptography is based on mathematical models and computational complexity to compute the secret key. It does not provide enough security because finding a fast method to calculate the secret key will compromise the security of the system. Quantum Key Distribution is one of the most promising methods which provide unconditional security. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) uses a quantum property in exchanging information called photons, as carriers of information in security systems, and QKD cannot separate from protocols BB84, B92 and BBM92. In this paper, we are testing the probability error comparison of BB84 protocol, B92 protocol, and BBM92 using QuVis simulator software. The results show that the B92 protocol is more relevant in detecting eavesdropping in lower error rates than the other two protocols.