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

Inquiry Queen s Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings

A Comparison of Quantum Cryptography Protocols

Sean Kershaw

Published Nov 29, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The study of quantum computation has yielded many advantages over classical computing. One area in which quantum computation has been shown to be superior is encryption. The main advantage of quantum key distribution schemes over conventional ones is that the security of the former is guaranteed by the very laws of physics (quantum mechanics in this case), while the security of the latter usually rests on unproven assumptions about the computational difficulty of a certain problem (such as factoring a large integer).This study focuses on two key distribution protocols based on the quantum model: One developed by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984 (BB84), the other developed by Marius Nagy and Selim Akl in 2006 (NA06), which uses BB84 as a base, but expands on it using the Quantum Fourier Transform.Unlike conventional protocols, quantum protocols have the ability to detect eavesdropping and the NA06 protocol is the first key distribution scheme capable of detecting an eavesdropper by testing bits that were not even eavesdropped on while in transit. The purpose of this study is to asses the performance of this novel protocol relative to the now classical BB84. These protocols are simulated on a classical computer and compared to determine what advantages, if any, the NA06 protocol holds over the BB84. The results of this report have implications in the theory of quantum key distribution.

DOI
10.24908/iqurcp.7812

Related papers

QUANTUM KEY DISTRIBUTION SCHEME: AN IMPROVEMENT BASED ON BB84 PROTOCOL

Kausik Saha

Cryptography is being introduced to secure data. Through Classical Cryptographic technique, we can encrypt our data and secure secret key also. But classical cryptography is based on mathematical techniques where reversing one-way function is possible with sufficient computing power and time. So, Quantum Cryptography is introduced to overcome those drawbacks of traditional classical cryptography. It is based on the values of quantum mechanics and photon. Scientists and researchers have brought up a new key distribution protocol based on Quantum Cryptography is called Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Protocol. The first QKD protocol BB84 was introduced by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. After that several QKD protocols have been created. In this paper we have improved BB84 Protocol by removing the drawbacks of the existing algorithm towards Eavesdropping which may not be detected or disclosing large portion of secret key. Steps of the existing BB84 algorithm along with the modified one is described in detail with example and pseudo code. Limitations of BB84 and comparative study of both the existing and the improved one based on their security has been made and described in this current work.

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science•Apr 20, 2018•1 citation

Two, Three and Four Dimensional BB84: A Comparative Analysis Based on C# Simulation

Liliana Zisu

Quantum Cryptography, the principles of which are based on the laws of quantum mechanics, is a new approach to secure communication. The main advantages of quantum cryptography as opposed to classical cryptography are: unconditional security, the transmission of an encryption key of a length equal to that of the message, the impossibility of creating an identical copy of an unknown quantum state, and the disruption of the quantum system when trying to measure it. BB84 is the first and best known quantum protocol. It was created in 1984 by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard and represents a quantum key distribution. The basic idea of the protocol is to encode bits using photon polarization, one bit for each photon. The paper presents an improvement of the protocol by using quantum memory and coding two, three or four bits for each photon, achieving a great efficiency and a higher security level.

International Conference on Emerging Security Technologies•Jul 1, 2019•2 citations

Modeling One-way and Two-way quantum key distribution protocols

Ahmed Mahmoud Sofy, Mohamed Ahmed Shalaby, Hisham Dahshan +1 more

The present cryptography systems security depends on the hardness of factorizing an integer number with a large number of digits to its prime integer factors. In 1994, Peter Shor proposed a quantum procedure (Shor's algorithm) that easily factorizes large integer numbers to its prime factors compared with other algorithms. Consequently, present cryptography systems became endangered and once quantum computers exist, conventional cryptography systems could breakdown. On the other hand, quantum cryptography security is based on the well-known quantum mechanics uncertainty principle, and so the quantum cryptography enhances the cryptography field with a mechanism for eavesdropper detecting. Here, a hardware implementation was proposed for two types of key distribution protocols based on quantum computing, the one-way quantum key distribution protocol (BB84 protocol), and the two-way quantum key distribution protocol.

International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Information Systems (ICICIS)•Dec 1, 2019•3 citations

Comprehensive Analysis of BB84, A Quantum Key Distribution Protocol

SujayKumar Reddy M, Chandra Mohan B

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a technique that enables secure communication between two parties by sharing a secret key. One of the most well-known QKD protocols is the BB84 protocol, proposed by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. In this protocol, Alice and Bob use a quantum channel to exchange qubits, allowing them to generate a shared key that is resistant to eavesdropping. This paper presents a comparative study of existing QKD schemes, including the BB84 protocol, and highlights the advancements made in the BB84 protocol over the years. The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the different QKD schemes and their strengths and weaknesses and demonstrate QKDs working principles through existing simulations and implementations. Through this study, we show that the BB84 protocol is a highly secure QKD scheme that has been extensively studied and implemented in various settings. Furthermore, we discuss the improvements made to the BB84 protocol to enhance its security and practicality, including the use of decoy states and advanced error correction techniques. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of QKD schemes, focusing on the BB84 protocol in secure communication technologies.

arXiv:2312.05609•Dec 9, 2023•2 citations

Quantum Cryptography on IBM QX

Dhoha A. Almubayedh, Mashael AL-Khalis, Ghadeer Alazman +3 more

Due to the importance of securing electronic transactions, many cryptographic protocols have been employed, that mainly depend on distributed keys between the intended parties. In classical computers, the security of these protocols depends on the mathematical complexity of the encoding functions and on the length of the key. However, the existing classical algorithms 100% breakable with enough computational power, which can be provided by quantum machines. Moving to quantum computation, the field of security shifts into a new area of cryptographic solutions which is now the field of quantum cryptography. The era of quantum computers is at its beginning. There are few practical implementations and evaluations of quantum protocols. Therefore, the paper defines a well-known quantum key distribution protocol which is BB84 then provides a practical implementation of it on IBM QX software. The practical implementations showed that there were differences between BB84 theoretical expected results and the practical implementation results. Due to this, the paper provides a statistical analysis of the experiments by comparing the standard deviation of the results. Using the BB84 protocol the existence of a third-party eavesdropper can be detected. Thus, calculations of the probability of detecting/not detecting a third-party eavesdropping have been provided. These values are again compared to the theoretical expectation. The calculations showed that with the greater number of qubits, the percentage of detecting eavesdropper will be higher.

International Conference on Computer Applications & Information Security (ICCAIS)•May 1, 2019•14 citations

Security of entanglement based version of BB84 protocol for Quantum Cryptography

Anand Sharma, Vibha Ojha, Saroj Kumar Lenka

As the quantum cryptography is the ultimate solution for information security. Quantum cryptography describes the ultimate way for key distribution. Unlike many of the classical cryptosystems in use today, whose security often draws on unproven assumptions about the computational complexity of mathematical problems, the security of quantum cryptography is based on the laws of physics. The Quantum Key Distribution follows some protocols for key distribution. In this paper we describe the BB84 protocol which is used in Quantum Cryptography and the security aspect of entanglement based version of BB84.

•Jul 1, 2010•14 citations
The study of quantum computation has yielded many advantages over classical computing. One area in which quantum computation has been shown to be superior is encryption. The main advantage of quantum key distribution schemes over conventional ones is that the security of the former is guaranteed by the very laws of physics (quantum mechanics in this case), while the security of the latter usually rests on unproven assumptions about the computational difficulty of a certain problem (such as factoring a large integer).This study focuses on two key distribution protocols based on the quantum model: One developed by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984 (BB84), the other developed by Marius Nagy and Selim Akl in 2006 (NA06), which uses BB84 as a base, but expands on it using the Quantum Fourier Transform.Unlike conventional protocols, quantum protocols have the ability to detect eavesdropping and the NA06 protocol is the first key distribution scheme capable of detecting an eavesdropper by testing bits that were not even eavesdropped on while in transit. The purpose of this study is to asses the performance of this novel protocol relative to the now classical BB84. These protocols are simulated on a classical computer and compared to determine what advantages, if any, the NA06 protocol holds over the BB84. The results of this report have implications in the theory of quantum key distribution.
Cryptography is being introduced to secure data. Through Classical Cryptographic technique, we can encrypt our data and secure secret key also. But classical cryptography is based on mathematical techniques where reversing one-way function is possible with sufficient computing power and time. So, Quantum Cryptography is introduced to overcome those drawbacks of traditional classical cryptography. It is based on the values of quantum mechanics and photon. Scientists and researchers have brought up a new key distribution protocol based on Quantum Cryptography is called Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Protocol. The first QKD protocol BB84 was introduced by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. After that several QKD protocols have been created. In this paper we have improved BB84 Protocol by removing the drawbacks of the existing algorithm towards Eavesdropping which may not be detected or disclosing large portion of secret key. Steps of the existing BB84 algorithm along with the modified one is described in detail with example and pseudo code. Limitations of BB84 and comparative study of both the existing and the improved one based on their security has been made and described in this current work.
Quantum Cryptography, the principles of which are based on the laws of quantum mechanics, is a new approach to secure communication. The main advantages of quantum cryptography as opposed to classical cryptography are: unconditional security, the transmission of an encryption key of a length equal to that of the message, the impossibility of creating an identical copy of an unknown quantum state, and the disruption of the quantum system when trying to measure it. BB84 is the first and best known quantum protocol. It was created in 1984 by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard and represents a quantum key distribution. The basic idea of the protocol is to encode bits using photon polarization, one bit for each photon. The paper presents an improvement of the protocol by using quantum memory and coding two, three or four bits for each photon, achieving a great efficiency and a higher security level.
The present cryptography systems security depends on the hardness of factorizing an integer number with a large number of digits to its prime integer factors. In 1994, Peter Shor proposed a quantum procedure (Shor's algorithm) that easily factorizes large integer numbers to its prime factors compared with other algorithms. Consequently, present cryptography systems became endangered and once quantum computers exist, conventional cryptography systems could breakdown. On the other hand, quantum cryptography security is based on the well-known quantum mechanics uncertainty principle, and so the quantum cryptography enhances the cryptography field with a mechanism for eavesdropper detecting. Here, a hardware implementation was proposed for two types of key distribution protocols based on quantum computing, the one-way quantum key distribution protocol (BB84 protocol), and the two-way quantum key distribution protocol.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a technique that enables secure communication between two parties by sharing a secret key. One of the most well-known QKD protocols is the BB84 protocol, proposed by Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. In this protocol, Alice and Bob use a quantum channel to exchange qubits, allowing them to generate a shared key that is resistant to eavesdropping. This paper presents a comparative study of existing QKD schemes, including the BB84 protocol, and highlights the advancements made in the BB84 protocol over the years. The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the different QKD schemes and their strengths and weaknesses and demonstrate QKDs working principles through existing simulations and implementations. Through this study, we show that the BB84 protocol is a highly secure QKD scheme that has been extensively studied and implemented in various settings. Furthermore, we discuss the improvements made to the BB84 protocol to enhance its security and practicality, including the use of decoy states and advanced error correction techniques. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of QKD schemes, focusing on the BB84 protocol in secure communication technologies.
Due to the importance of securing electronic transactions, many cryptographic protocols have been employed, that mainly depend on distributed keys between the intended parties. In classical computers, the security of these protocols depends on the mathematical complexity of the encoding functions and on the length of the key. However, the existing classical algorithms 100% breakable with enough computational power, which can be provided by quantum machines. Moving to quantum computation, the field of security shifts into a new area of cryptographic solutions which is now the field of quantum cryptography. The era of quantum computers is at its beginning. There are few practical implementations and evaluations of quantum protocols. Therefore, the paper defines a well-known quantum key distribution protocol which is BB84 then provides a practical implementation of it on IBM QX software. The practical implementations showed that there were differences between BB84 theoretical expected results and the practical implementation results. Due to this, the paper provides a statistical analysis of the experiments by comparing the standard deviation of the results. Using the BB84 protocol the existence of a third-party eavesdropper can be detected. Thus, calculations of the probability of detecting/not detecting a third-party eavesdropping have been provided. These values are again compared to the theoretical expectation. The calculations showed that with the greater number of qubits, the percentage of detecting eavesdropper will be higher.
As the quantum cryptography is the ultimate solution for information security. Quantum cryptography describes the ultimate way for key distribution. Unlike many of the classical cryptosystems in use today, whose security often draws on unproven assumptions about the computational complexity of mathematical problems, the security of quantum cryptography is based on the laws of physics. The Quantum Key Distribution follows some protocols for key distribution. In this paper we describe the BB84 protocol which is used in Quantum Cryptography and the security aspect of entanglement based version of BB84.