Access to information can destroy nations and change the course of history altogether. Communication is very important, and in today's internet age, nothing moves without real-time information support. For securing communication, a commonly know technique is to use cryptography and public channels. Engineers have been working to create a better and more secure cryptographic system. Quantum key distribution stands at the top of this security system. Although QKD, based on principles of physics, provides a near-perfect security solution. It has a few drawbacks of its own, like low key generation rates and vulnerability to cyberattacks. Owning to these limitations, authors propose an adaptive quantum key distribution system based on software-defined networks. The authors propose to introduce redundancy in the key generation, thereby increasing the key generation rate and improving the resilience to cyberattacks. A performance comparison of novel quantum key distribution was done with BB84 and B92 quantum key distribution protocols.
Access to information can destroy nations and change the course of history altogether. Communication is very important, and in today's internet age, nothing moves without real-time information support. For securing communication, a commonly know technique is to use cryptography and public channels. Engineers have been working to create a better and more secure cryptographic system. Quantum key distribution stands at the top of this security system. Although QKD, based on principles of physics, provides a near-perfect security solution. It has a few drawbacks of its own, like low key generation rates and vulnerability to cyberattacks. Owning to these limitations, authors propose an adaptive quantum key distribution system based on software-defined networks. The authors propose to introduce redundancy in the key generation, thereby increasing the key generation rate and improving the resilience to cyberattacks. A performance comparison of novel quantum key distribution was done with BB84 and B92 quantum key distribution protocols.
The ability to protect information has always played an important role in the evolution of civilizations, and even in the history of mankind as a whole. Safe and reliable communications have become an essential component of people’s lives in the era of modern digital technologies, when all spheres and areas of activity, from defense and government to business and social communications, are unthinkable without real-time data exchange. Classical methods of cryptographic protection have long been used to ensure the security of data transmission, but with the explosive growth in computing power and the emerging development of quantum computers, many traditional solutions have become vulnerable. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a popular research area at the moment, due to its use of the laws of quantum mechanics, and thus it is possible to provide a completely secure level of encryption. But traditional quantum communication protocols have their limitations, including low key generation rates, scalability problems in large networks, and vulnerabilities to various forms of cyberattacks in the network layer. Therefore, in this work we propose a new adaptive quantum key distribution algorithm using software-defined networking (SDN) technology. The main idea of the proposed approach is to introduce some level of redundancy in the key generation stage, which increases the throughput, robustness, and adaptability of multi-node quantum networks. In addition, the SDN control layer allows dynamic routing and resource management and quick response to changes in the network state, making the system more resistant to denial-of-service and eavesdropping attacks. Evaluating our solution in comparison with BB84, we show that the new algorithm provides better performance without losing its security level, making the work a step towards creating a working quantum-secure communication system.
With the development of the Internet, information security has attracted great attention in today’s society, and quantum cryptography communication network based on quantum key distribution (QKD) is a very important part of this field, since the quantum key distribution combined with one-time-pad encryption scheme can guarantee the unconditional security of the information. The secret key generated by quantum key distribution protocols is a very valuable resource, so making full use of key resources is particularly important. Software definition network (SDN) is a new type of network architecture, and it separates the control plane and the data plane of network devices through OpenFlow technology, thus it realizes the flexible control of the network resources. In this paper, a quantum cryptography communication network model based on SDN is proposed to realize the flexible control of quantum key resources in the whole cryptography communication network. Moreover, we propose a routing algorithm which takes into account both the hops and the end-to-end availible keys, so that the secret key generated by QKD can be used effectively. We also simulate this quantum cryptography communication network, and the result shows that based on SDN and the proposed routing algorithm the performance of this network is improved since the effective use of the quantum key resources.
Quantum-key-distribution (QKD) networks can theoretically generate quantum secret keys that are completely secure for an entire communication system. The rate of key distribution is low and decreases exponentially with increasing distance. A classic trusted relay (CTR) uses additional keys to enhance security distance in QKD networks. In practice, the assurance of security for certain relay nodes is still lacking, despite the fact that CTR requires that all nodes be trusted. Owing to channel unreliability, system faults accumulate during the key relay, thereby increasing the probability of CTR failing to distribute the secret key. The failure of a successful key relay would then result in the subsequent destruction of all the keys involved in the process, which leads to the wasting of the quantum secret key and reduction system encryption. Accordingly, reducing the impact of CTR failures and realising the key security distribution of remote quantum networks have become new challenges that require the development of a new survivability scheme. In this study, a software-defined networking (SDN) technique is introduced to circumvent this drawback by utilising the flexibility provided by the SDN paradigm for better QKD network management efficiency. In particular, a novel survivability model called software-defined quantum key relay failure (SDQKRF) is proposed in this paper in which a new function is developed and added to the SDN controller. According to the simulation results, SDN over a QKD network using the SDQKRF model is more reliable and performs better in terms of the key generation ratio, key utilisation rate, recovery after failure, avalanche effect, and service blocking rate than a regular QKD network without the SDQTRF model.
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging networking paradigm that decouples the control and data plane in order to enable programmable and flexible networks, optimizing its applications and advancing computer systems. It does so through its architecture, a key part of which is a centralized network management through open interfaces that revolutionizes the way in which networks are designed and makes them more agile and versatile to the evolving needs of modern and future applications services. This also means, however, that there is now a centralized point of attack that is a major vulnerability, threatening the security of the entire network. With such an advanced network paradigm, it requires a security system that will mitigate these risks and warrant long-term security. In attempts to allow secure communications within the network, this research proposes the implementation of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), leveraging quantum mechanics to secure the network against any computational advancements in the future. QKD is a recent cryptographic system that includes a traditional-computational channel and a physical-quantum channel to generate and distribute keys between parties. It uses the principles of quantum mechanics including entanglement and superposition to ensure that the physical layer cannot be compromised computationally. QKD provides confidentiality and privacy of information and communication. Moreover, it is resistant to technological advancements. The implications of QKD significantly enhance SDN security through its protection against attacks, efficient key distribution, reliable network orchestration, and data integrity, creating an architecture that establishes stable communication channels that are resistant to cyber threats.
In today's digital age, where cyber threats are escalating and data security is paramount, traditional cryptographic methods face significant challenges. Classic security systems, such as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and SSL/TLS protocols, rely heavily on asymmetric cryptography to protect sensitive information. However, with the exponential growth of data and advancements in quantum computing, there is an increasing need for more robust encryption methods. This paper introduces a new decentralized multi-user quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol based on quantum superposition, which aims to address the limitations of current cryptographic systems. The protocol leverages quantum principles to enhance the security and efficiency of data transmission, overcoming the vulnerabilities exposed by potential quantum computing threats. The methodology of implementing this protocol, including the setup of quantum sources, detectors, and optical components, as well as the integration with classical communication channels are presented. The results demonstrate that the proposed QKD protocol not only achieves high accuracy and reliability but also scales effectively in network environments.
Quantum computers will change the cryptographic panorama. A technology once believed to lie far away in the future is increasingly closer to real-world applications. Quantum computers will break the algorithms used in our public key infrastructure and in our key exchange protocols, forcing a complete retooling of cryptography as we know it. Quantum key distribution is a physical layer technology immune to quantum or classical computational threats. However, it requires a physical substrate, and optical fiber has been the usual choice. Most of the time, it is used just as a point-to-point link for the exclusive transport of delicate quantum signals. Its integration in a realworld shared network has not been attempted so far. Here we show how the new programmable software network architectures, together with specially designed quantum systems, can be used to produce a network that integrates classical and quantum communications, including management, in a single, production-level infrastructure. The network can also incorporate new quantum- safe algorithms and use the existing security protocols, thus bridging the gap between today's network security and the quantum-safe network of the future. This can be done in an evolutionary way, without zero-day migrations and the corresponding upfront costs. We also present how the technologies have been deployed in practice using a production network.