In order to make the quantum key agreement process immune to participant attacks, it is necessary to introduce the authentication in the communication process. A quantum key agreement protocol with identity authentication that exploits the measurement correlation of six-particle entangled states is proposed. In contrast to some recently proposed quantum key agreement protocols with authentication, this protocol requires neither a semi-trusted third party nor additional private keys in the authentication process. The entire process of authentication and key agreement can be achieved using only n six-particle entangled states, which saves communication costs and reduces the complexity of the authentication process. Finally, security analysis shows that this scheme is resistant to some important attacks.
In order to make the quantum key agreement process immune to participant attacks, it is necessary to introduce the authentication in the communication process. A quantum key agreement protocol with identity authentication that exploits the measurement correlation of six-particle entangled states is proposed. In contrast to some recently proposed quantum key agreement protocols with authentication, this protocol requires neither a semi-trusted third party nor additional private keys in the authentication process. The entire process of authentication and key agreement can be achieved using only n six-particle entangled states, which saves communication costs and reduces the complexity of the authentication process. Finally, security analysis shows that this scheme is resistant to some important attacks.
In this paper, a mutual authentication quantum key agreement protocol with single-particle measurement is proposed. The participants can authenticate each other’s identity through their secret identity information and the entanglement property of Bell states. After the authentication phase, the participants can negotiate a private key with equal contribution. We prove that the proposed scheme is unconditional security. In comparison to the previous mutual authentication quantum key agreement protocols, the proposed method utilizes Bell states as the quantum resource states in both the identity authentication and key agreement stages. It requires single-particle measurement without the need for Bell measurements or the involvement of trusted or semi-trusted other participants. Additionally, our proposed scheme demonstrates significant advantages in terms of qubit efficiency.
Abstract Multi-particle entanglement is an important physical resource in quantum information processing, and the larger the number of particles in the entangled states, the more quantum superiority it can show in quantum communication and quantum computing. This paper proposes two quantum key agreement protocols using Ω states and six-particle entangled states. Both protocols ensure that two participants can fairly establish a final key through the measurement correlation for multi-particle entangled states. Since the protocols only use Bell measurements and Z-basis measurements, they are more easily achieved using current technology. From the perspective of security analysis, the protocols can resist participant attacks and external attacks. Finally, compared with some exising quantum key agreement protocols, our protocols can achieve higher qubit efficiency.
Identity authentication plays a critical role in safeguarding communication information. In this study, we propose a semi-quantum mutual identity authentication protocol that leverages single particles as resources, significantly reducing quantum resource usage as well as system complexity and operational difficulty. The protocol operates without third-party involvement, simplifying the structure and enabling mutual authentication between quantum and classical participants through straightforward single-qubit measurement and reordering operations. Additionally, if the authentication process fails, the protocol can immediately identify which participant’s identity is unauthorized, thereby enhancing security. Security analysis demonstrates that the proposed protocol can defend against impersonation attacks, intercept-measure-resend attacks, entangle-measure attacks, and Trojan horse attacks. Compared to existing protocols, our protocol offers advantages in practicality.
In Wise Information Technology of Medicine, to ensure both confidentiality and integrity of the data created during online joint consultations, and to solve the problem that ordinary users cannot afford expensive quantum devices and are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks during communication, this paper proposes a three-party controlled authentication semi-quantum key agreement protocol, leveraging the measurement retransmission operation and the entanglement properties of Cluster states. With the help of a trusted controller with full quantum capabilities, the identities of three semi-quantum parties are authenticated, and a shared key is negotiated fairly for subsequent communication. Since the semi-quantum participants only need to perform simple quantum state preparation, measurement and reflection operations, the protocol reduces the requirements for participants' capabilities and equipment. Moreover, the protocol prevents man-in-the-middle attacks by authenticating the identity of participants. The security evaluation demonstrates that the protocol is capable of effectively defending against both internal participant threats and external intrusions. Moreover, a comparison with existing semi-quantum key agreement protocols reveals that this protocol offers certain advantages when its functionality and performance are comprehensively evaluated.
Abstract Quantum key agreement (QKA) is an important cryptographic primitive that plays a pivotal role in private communications. Authenticated QKA plays an important role in QKA. In this paper, we propose an authenticated multiparty QKA scheme based on 4-qubit cluster states entanglement swapping. The scheme is divided into two parts, the first part is the quantum identity authentication stage, and the second part is the QKA stage. In the quantum identity authentication stage, the participants determine that the participant communicating with them is the claimed person through mutual authentication, which can avoid the impersonation attack of the eavesdropper Eve. In the QKA phase, the participants adopt a bidirectional transmission structure with the participation of a semi-trusted third party, and based on the entanglement swapping property of the 4-qubit cluster state, the QKA is finally realized. Detailed security analysis shows that the protocol can resist a variety of internal and external attacks, such as participants attack, entangle-measure attack, and so on.
This study proposes a two-party quantum identity authentication protocol that does not require the participation of a third party. The protocol can verify the user’s identity without exposing the authentication key information, and it can be implemented with a single-photon state, which does not involve entanglement, enabling it to be combined with existing technologies. The shared key is protected by the protocol and hidden during communication, and the security of the authentication scheme is analyzed and verified under general attack. Further analysis results indicate that this protocol is secure and efficient.