Preserving privacy in communication and networking is of paramount importance in the Internet-of-Everything age of escalating surveillance and data collection. Anonymous communication is a cornerstone of this endeavor, enabling individuals to interact and exchange private information without disclosing their identities. However, achieving absolute security and privacy in classical anonymous networks (CANs) is highly challenging, and in particular, the advent of quantum computing poses critical threats to securing classical communication. In this article, we explore the evolution of CANs and delve into the distinctive shift from classical to quantum anonymous networks (QANs), emphasizing a substantial leap in privacy protected by quantum anonymous communication (QAC). The fundamental motivations behind this transition are rooted in the remarkable privacy attributes—e.g., completeanonymityanduntraceability— of QAC protocols, as well as the unconditional security ensured by the principles of quantum mechanics. To make these concepts more tangible in practical settings and provide a benchmark to design the QAC protocols in QANs, we usher in exemplary protocols: quantum anonymous teleportation, voting, and information retrieval. In these case studies, we assess the fidelity and error rates of the QAC protocols in noisy environments, aiming to evaluate their robustness in practical quantum entangled settings. Moreover, we discuss the primary challenges and future research directions integral to the transition towards QANs.
Preserving privacy in communication and networking is of paramount importance in the Internet-of-Everything age of escalating surveillance and data collection. Anonymous communication is a cornerstone of this endeavor, enabling individuals to interact and exchange private information without disclosing their identities. However, achieving absolute security and privacy in classical anonymous networks (CANs) is highly challenging, and in particular, the advent of quantum computing poses critical threats to securing classical communication. In this article, we explore the evolution of CANs and delve into the distinctive shift from classical to quantum anonymous networks (QANs), emphasizing a substantial leap in privacy protected by quantum anonymous communication (QAC). The fundamental motivations behind this transition are rooted in the remarkable privacy attributes—e.g., completeanonymityanduntraceability— of QAC protocols, as well as the unconditional security ensured by the principles of quantum mechanics. To make these concepts more tangible in practical settings and provide a benchmark to design the QAC protocols in QANs, we usher in exemplary protocols: quantum anonymous teleportation, voting, and information retrieval. In these case studies, we assess the fidelity and error rates of the QAC protocols in noisy environments, aiming to evaluate their robustness in practical quantum entangled settings. Moreover, we discuss the primary challenges and future research directions integral to the transition towards QANs.
In the shift toward the quantum computing era, the foundational principles of classical cybersecurity, particularly in the realm of cryptographic algorithms, are facing unprecedented challenges. This demands comprehensive reevaluation and redesign of cryptographic infrastructures to withstand quantum adversarial attacks. With the emergence of the quantum Internet, a new approach to secure communication is possible, utilizing quantum properties that have no counterpart in classical systems. As the quantum Internet facilitates the exchange of quantum information, data publication protocols become essential in anonymizing and protecting privacy-sensitive data in quantum communication networks. This paper proposes two controlled quantum anonymous communication (QAC) protocols for publishing classical and quantum information on an Internet server (IS) with the assistance of a communication service provider. The first protocol allows for the controlled publication of classical information without revealing the publisher’s identity such that an adversary, even with access to all network resources, cannot trace the publication source—i.e., achieving perfect untraceability. The second protocol enables anonymous publication of quantum information on an IS in a controlled and untraceable manner. These protocols serve as essential building blocks for advancing the quantum Internet, which has the potential to transform communication and information exchange methods. We provide a detailed anonymity analysis of these QAC protocols for data publication, ensuring that the published symbol or qudit information remains untraceable to its publisher. Moreover, the performance analysis in terms of publication error probability, fidelity, and degree of anonymity in noisy environments demonstrates the robustness of the protocols against noise and adversarial attacks.
Due to optical fiber limitations for quantum communication, global-scale quantum networks are possible only by integrating non-terrestrial components in the overall network architecture. Quantum networks are expected to support distributed tasks for quantum information processing, such as quantum sensing, control, communication, and computing. These networks enable emerging applications that are uniquely quantum or augmented by quantum mechanics. Leveraging quantum resources, anonymous networking can be enhanced to such an extent that even an adversary with control over all network resources cannot trace the message source, achieving perfect untraceability . To provide this untraceable global connectivity, we demonstrate the integration of non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) and terrestrial networks (TNs) for quantum anonymous communication (QAC), highlighting possible architectures and key challenges in these integrated NTN-TN quantum anonymous networks (QANs). To illustrate and benchmark the design of QAC protocols within integrated networks, we present essential quantum protocols such as anonymous conference key agreement (CKA) and anonymous broadcast. In the first case study, we propose a satellite-to-ground quantum anonymous CKA (QA-CKA) protocol and assess the anonymous key exchange rate. This QA-CKA protocol utilizes low Earth orbit satellites to generate anonymous keys among two distinct TN nodes. In the second case study, we develop an air-to-ground quantum anonymous broadcast (QAB) protocol and examine the anonymous broadcast announcement rate. This QAB protocol exploits unmanned aerial vehicles to enable a broadcasting party to transmit classical information anonymously across two distinct TNs. These QAC protocols are simulated with realistic integrated network parameters to provide practical estimates of achievable performance. Furthermore, we discuss future research directions for enabling integrated NTN-TN QANs.
The scalability of current quantum networks is limited due to noisy quantum components and high implementation costs, thereby limiting the security advantages that quantum networks provide over their classical counterparts. Quantum Augmented Networks (QuANets) address this by integrating quantum components in classical network infrastructure to improve robustness and end-to-end security. To enable such integration, Quantum Anonymous Notification (QAN) is a method to anonymously inform a receiver of an incoming quantum communication. Therefore, several quantum primitives will serve as core tools, namely, quantum voting, quantum anonymous protocols, quantum secret sharing, etc. However, all current quantum protocols can be compromised in the presence of several common channel noises. In this work, we propose an improved quantum anonymous notification (QAN) protocol that utilizes rotation operations on shared GHZ states to produce an anonymous notification in an n-user quantum-augmented network. We study the behavior of this modified QAN protocol under the dephasing noise model and observe stronger resilience to false notifications than earlier QAN approaches. The QAN framework is also proposed to be integrated with a machine-learning classifier, an enhanced quantum-augmented network. Finally, we discuss how this notification layer integrates with QuANets so that receivers can allow switch-bypass handling of quantum payloads, reducing header-based information leakage and vulnerability to targeted interference at compromised switches.
Full-duplex communication is a transformative technology in next-generation networks, enabling simultaneous transmission and reception for both high efficiency and low latency. In this paper, we integratefull duplexitywith QAC, developing a quantum dimension of full-duplex anonymity to address the stringent demands for communication efficiency, security, and privacy in emerging networks. Specifically, we design two full-duplex (FD-QAC) protocols for the bidirectional, secure, and anonymous exchange of classical information with the help of a server. The first FD-QAC protocol, tailored for ring-type quantum networks, ensures that even an adversary with full network access cannot determine communicating identities—achievingperfect untraceability. The second FD-QAC protocol, designed for star-type quantum networks, improves scalability, security, and resilience against dishonest participant attacks. We provide the anonymity analysis demonstrating the robustness of these QAC protocols against external adversaries and malicious participants in adversarial quantum networks. Furthermore, we evaluate the error performance of the protocols in noisy quantum networks, illustrating that this quantum full-duplex anonymity is both reliable and scalable.
We present the first quantum anonymous notification (QAN) protocol that introduces anonymity and paves the way for anonymous secure quantum communication in quantum networks. QAN protocol has applications ranging from multiparty quantum computation to quantum internet. We utilize the QAN protocol to propose an anonymous quantum private comparison protocol in an n-node quantum network. This protocol can compare private information of any 2≤k≤n parties with the help of the remaining n−k parties and a semi-honest third party. These protocols feature a traceless property, i.e., encoding operations cannot be traced back to their originating sources. Security analysis shows that this protocol is robust against external adversaries and malicious participants.
The scalability of current quantum networks is limited due to noisy quantum components and high implementation costs, thereby limiting the security advantages that quantum networks provide over their classical counterparts. Quantum Augmented Networks (QuANets) address this by integrating quantum components in classical network infrastructure to improve robustness and end-to-end security. To enable such integration, Quantum Anonymous Notification (QAN) is a method to anonymously inform a receiver of an incoming quantum communication. Therefore, several quantum primitives will serve as core tools, namely, quantum voting, quantum anonymous protocols, quantum secret sharing, etc. However, all current quantum protocols can be compromised in the presence of several common channel noises. In this work, we propose an improved quantum anonymous notification (QAN) protocol that utilizes rotation operations on shared GHZ states to produce an anonymous notification in an n-user quantum-augmented network. We study the behavior of this modified QAN protocol under the dephasing noise model and observe stronger resilience to false notifications than earlier QAN approaches. The QAN framework is also proposed to be integrated with a machine-learning classifier, an enhanced quantum-augmented network. Finally, we discuss how this notification layer integrates with QuANets so that receivers can allow switch-bypass handling of quantum payloads, reducing header-based information leakage and vulnerability to targeted interference at compromised switches.