Quantum data communications and networking involve classical hardware and software. Quantum storage is sensitive to environmental disturbances that may have malicious origins. Teleportation and entanglement swapping, two building blocks for the future quantum Internet, rely on secure classical bit communications. When lack of authenticity, integrity, and replay protection may have a high impact, quantum data communications are at risk and need to be protected. Building upon quantum cryptography and random generation of quantum operators, we propose a solution to protect the authenticity, integrity, and replay of quantum data communications. Our solution includes a classical data interface to quantum data cryptography. We describe how classical keying material can be mapped to quantum operators. This enables classical key management techniques for secure quantum data communications.
Quantum data communications and networking involve classical hardware and software. Quantum storage is sensitive to environmental disturbances that may have malicious origins. Teleportation and entanglement swapping, two building blocks for the future quantum Internet, rely on secure classical bit communications. When lack of authenticity, integrity, and replay protection may have a high impact, quantum data communications are at risk and need to be protected. Building upon quantum cryptography and random generation of quantum operators, we propose a solution to protect the authenticity, integrity, and replay of quantum data communications. Our solution includes a classical data interface to quantum data cryptography. We describe how classical keying material can be mapped to quantum operators. This enables classical key management techniques for secure quantum data communications.
Privacy-preserving data-sharing mechanisms traditionally rely on data anonymization techniques, which aim to dissociate individual records from their corresponding data subjects in order to transform sensitive information into a form that minimizes the risk of re-identification. In parallel, trust-broker models have emerged as an additional layer of protection, whereby authorized data providers disclose controlled contact information that enables potential data users to request access under predefined conditions determined by the data owner. In contemporary data-sharing environments, cryptography remains a fundamental pillar for ensuring confidentiality and integrity during data exchange. Cryptographic protection typically involves two operations: an encryption process, in which the sender transforms plaintext into ciphertext that is unintelligible to unauthorized entities, and a decryption process, in which only the intended recipient restores the ciphertext to its original form. Both operations rely on a cryptographic algorithm paired with one or more secret keys. Symmetric-key cryptography employs a single shared key for both encryption and decryption. In contrast, asymmetric cryptography uses a mathematically linked pair of keys, where one key is used for encryption and the other for decryption. When the encryption key is publicly available while the corresponding decryption key remains private, only the legitimate recipient holding the private key is capable of recovering the plaintext. This cryptographic structure forms the basis for securing data confidentiality against unauthorized access in both classical and quantum-aware communication systems.
The emergence of sixth-generation (6G) networks presents a promising paradigm aimed at meeting stringent quality-of-service (QoS) requirements, thereby paving the way for modern applications such as the metaverse. In contrast, the advent of quantum computers poses a significant threat to the security of such networks. However, the quantum Internet signifies a remarkable advancement in communication technology, harnessing the principles of quantum entanglement and superposition to facilitate unparalleled levels of security and efficient computations. Quantum communication can be achieved through the utilization of quantum entanglement. Through the exchange of entangled pairs between two entities, quantum communication becomes feasible, enabled by the process of quantum teleportation. Given the lossy nature of the channels and the exponential decoherence of the transmitted photons, a set of intermediate nodes can serve as quantum repeaters to perform entanglement swapping and directly entangle two distant nodes. Such quantum repeaters may be malicious and by setting up malicious entanglements, intermediate nodes can jeopardize the confidentiality of the quantum information exchanged between the two communication nodes. Hence, this paper proposes a quantum identity authentication protocol that protects quantum networks from malicious entanglements. Unlike the existing protocols, the proposed quantum authentication protocol does not require periodic refreshments of the shared secret keys. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol can detect malicious entanglements with a 100% probability after an average of 4 authentication rounds. Moreover, the average number of authentication rounds required to detect an attack is reduced by 69% and 76.5% compared with benchmark protocols. Index Terms—Quantum identity authentication, quantum communications, malicious entanglement, quantum security, quantum Internet, 6G.
As a vital component of the "Ubiquitous Power Internet of Things" communication network, the key management of distributed energy storage charging pile communication systems is pivotal to the successful implementation of information security measures. Consequently, achieving lightweight security authentication and communication protection across vast numbers of heterogeneous devices has become an urgent priority. This paper proposes a lightweight network authentication scheme for distributed energy, energy storage, and charging pile systems based on quantum cryptography technology (Charging Pile Key Management Scheme, CPKMS). By integrating pre-shared symmetric keys with public key certificate mechanisms, it ensures efficient and secure network authentication and data transmission for terminal devices operating in resource-constrained environments. Analysis demonstrates that this scheme possesses resistance to forgery attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and replay attacks, balancing security and efficiency to meet the security requirements for network access key management in distributed energy storage and charging pile systems.
Quantum cryptography uses quantum mechanical principles to provide a new level of security to communication networks. This paper describes an advanced system that will provide scalable, cost-effective quantum key distribution (QKD) through the incorporation of quantum and classical infrastructure in a resilient system that will increase data security. The current distance, device vulnerablity and interoperability problems are solved with our proposed model, which supports the usage of entanglement-based repeaters, AI algorithms to manage the keys and MDI-QKD protocols. Owing to its strong resistance to environmental noise and practical attacks, the scheme is suitable for deployment under practical communication environments. Both the experimental verification and the theoretical modeling show a clear enhancement both in security and transmission distance.
Internet of Drones (IoD) is the interconnection of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones deployed for collecting sensitive data to be used in critical applications. The drones transmit the collected data to the control room (CR) for analysis, while CR sends control commands to the drone to monitor their operations. This exchange of information between the drones and CR takes place through a wireless communication channel, which is susceptible to various security risks. Therefore, it is vital to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of such information in the IoD environment. To this end, authenticated key management (AKM) protocols can be leveraged to provide reliable and secure communication. However, due to the peculiarities associated with IoD environments, it is challenging to devise a robust and resource-efficient AKM protocol. To tackle this challenge, in this article, we propose a robust AKM protocol for IoD (RAMP-IoD). RAMP-IoD uses lightweight cryptography-based authenticated encryption primitive and elliptic-curve cryptography along with a hash function to perform the AKM process. Moreover, RAMP-IoD verifies the user’s authenticity and then sets up a session key (SK) between the user and a specific drone for indecipherable communications. We verify the security of SK using the random oracle model. Scyther-based validation demonstrates that RAMP-IoD is protected against replay and man-in-the-middle attacks. Moreover, the informal analysis illustrates that RAMP-IoD is secure against various covert security attacks. Through a comparative study, we also demonstrate that RAMP-IoD provides enhanced security with low storage, communication, and computational overheads as compared to related AKM protocols.
Quantum cryptography has emerged as a revolutionary technology for ensuring secure communication in the era of quantum computing. While existing research primarily focuses on theoretical frameworks and small-scale experimental setups, significant challenges remain in practical implementation, scalability, and security vulnerabilities. This study aims to bridge the gap between theory and real-world deployment by developing robust quantum cryptographic protocols that address key challenges such as noise management, side-channel attacks, and Trojan horse attacks. Additionally, we propose an optimized quantum key distribution (QKD) mechanism that ensures secure communication over long distances under realistic conditions. Our research integrates post-quantum cryptography with quantum cryptographic techniques to provide a hybrid security model that is resilient against both classical and quantum computing threats. By leveraging commercially available quantum hardware and advanced randomness extraction methods, this study contributes to the development of scalable, secure, and efficient quantum communication networks. The findings of this research will play a crucial role in advancing secure digital communication systems and fortifying data security in the post-quantum era.