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.
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.
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.
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.
Quantum cybersecurity is the study of all facets regarding the security of communication and computation in a distributed network. Significant developments in quantum technologies have outclassed their classical counterparts, thus envisioning the realization of a quantum internet. However, such quantum resources, in the hands of an adversary, can jeopardize network security. In this paper, we study two secure network connectivity concerns, namely,privacyandanonymity, in quantum information retrieval systems. To this end, we propose a state-of-the-art single-server multi-user quantum anonymous private information retrieval (QAPIR) protocol. To actualize this, we utilize anonymous entanglement as a quantum resource. We show that the QAPIR protocol not only provides privacy but also introduces anonymity as an added layer of security in quantum networks. Furthermore, we also detail a comparative security analysis that establishes the desirable properties of our proposal.
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.
Traditional cryptographic methods are becoming more and more vulnerable when facing the computing power delivered by the quantum algorithm in the era of digitalization heading towards quantum computing. The realization of a quantum computer is a growing menace that has promoted the development of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a completely secure key exchange protocol based on the principles of quantum mechanics. This work studies QKD protocol creation and use for secure data transfer in hybrid networks including both classical and quantum computing nodes over geographically separated environments. The paper provides a scalable scheme to integrate QKD with current classical communication networks, with the emphasis on interoperability, key synchronization, secure routing among the mixed nodes. At the core of the model are quantum channels for key exchange and classical channels for data, governed by a quantum-safe control protocol. The security of QKD—the feature of resistance against eavesdropping according to the no-cloning theorem and disturbance of measurement—is investigated taking into account actual implementation aspects, such as noise, restriction in a transmission distance, and quantum memory. To test the model, simulation, and prototype testing are performed over different networking topologies, considering various parameters such as QBER, key generation rate, latency and system robustness under different attacks such as man-in-the-middle as well as photon-number-splitting attacks. We also investigate the interworking between QKD and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to reduce the risk for hybrid systems with enhanced security and to be backward compatible to classical systems. Findings show that, when well combined with classical and quantum computing nodes, QKD is able to bring the cybersecurity of today communication infrastructures to a greater extent. This research is a step towards building the quantum internet, providing a solid foundation for applications in cybersecurity and potentially well beyond — finance, defense, health care and more — where data privacy truly matters.
Abstract Anonymous secret sharing (ASS) is an essential cryptographic concept that facilitates the sharing and reconstruction of secret information while safeguarding the identity of the involved secret receivers, which has broad applications in key management, data backup, and distributed systems. In this study, a novel authenticated quantum anonymous secret sharing (QASS) protocol that emphasizes information privacy and identity anonymity protection is proposed. Employing ‐level multipartite GHZ states as a quantum resource, one‐sided anonymous entanglement (AE) is innovatively established between the dealer and anonymous receivers, enabling the dealer to distribute a random share of secret information. Additionally, by establishing a one‐sided AE between anonymous receivers and restorer, the restorer can securely collect and reconstruct the secret information using quantum teleportation (QT). Rigorous security analysis demonstrates that protocol can resist attacks from active adversaries and potentially dishonest users. Quantum experiments on IBM Qiskit validate the correctness and feasibility of the proposed QASS protocol. This work contributes to the advancement of quantum anonymous communication, addressing the requirements for information privacy and identity anonymity in practical application environments.