Security experts prepare for quantum computing hacks

Ameena Sultana

ROBERT M. SLADE

Edlyn V. Levine

The future of hardware security will evolve with hardware. As packaging advances and focus moves to beyond Moore's law technologies, hardware security experts will need to keep ahead of changing security paradigms, including system and process vulnerabilities. Research focused on quantum hacking is emblematic of the translation of principles of security on the physical attack plane for emerging communications and computing technologies. Perhaps the commercial market will evolve such that the GAO will run a study on compromised quantum technologies in the not-too-distant future.

Ji-Woong Choi, Chang-Hoon Park, Na-Hee Lim +3 more

Quantum identity authentication serves as a crucial technology for secure quantum communication, but its security often faces challenges due to quantum hacking of measurement devices. This study introduces a measurement-device-independent mutual quantum identity authentication (MDI MQIA) scheme capable of ensuring secure user authentication, despite the use of measurement devices vulnerable to quantum hacking. To realize the MDI MQIA scheme, we proposed and applied a modified Bell state measurement based on linear optics, enabling the probabilistic measurement of all Bell states. Furthermore, the proposed experimental setup adopted a plug-and-play architecture, thus efficiently establishing the indistinguishability of two photons prepared by the communication members. Finally, we successfully performed a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of the proposed scheme using a field-deployed fiber, achieving quantum bit error rates of less than 3%.

R Thangamani, M. Vimaladevi, Gobichettipalayam Krishnaswamy Kamalam +1 more