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The University of Danang - Journal of Science and Technology

Development of Qiskit-based program for education of quantum key distribution

Duy N. Luong, Minh Hieu Nguyen, Bao Q. Ninh, Cuong T. Nguyen, Hoang D. Le, Duy-Tuan Dao

Published Oct 31, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) has been realized as a potential approach for quantum-safe communication toward the threats exposed by quantum computing. While QKD has been extensively investigated for a long time, its concept is still far from straightforward to students and common people. In this work, we provide a software program that can serve as an educational tool for teaching and learning QKD. The core of this software is based on Qiskit, which is an open-source library developed by IBM for quantum programming purposes. The program has two modes, which are visualization and simulation modes. Using the developed program, the users can learn the basic concept of BB84, a very first QKD protocol, and gain intuition regarding how different parameters affect the performance of free-space optics (FSO)-based QKD systems.

DOI
10.31130/ud-jst.2025.23(10b).635e

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Quantum key distribution (QKD) has been realized as a potential approach for quantum-safe communication toward the threats exposed by quantum computing. While QKD has been extensively investigated for a long time, its concept is still far from straightforward to students and common people. In this work, we provide a software program that can serve as an educational tool for teaching and learning QKD. The core of this software is based on Qiskit, which is an open-source library developed by IBM for quantum programming purposes. The program has two modes, which are visualization and simulation modes. Using the developed program, the users can learn the basic concept of BB84, a very first QKD protocol, and gain intuition regarding how different parameters affect the performance of free-space optics (FSO)-based QKD systems.
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Quantum cryptography is a practical method of secret communication that guarantees the foolproof secrecy. This paper presents the simulation for implementation of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol BB84, the pioneering, and most basic and fundamental protocol. We use the quantum computing platform developed by IBM named as Qiskit for the simulation of the BB84 protocol, implementing it with and without an Eve eavesdropper for studying the relative outcomes. Recently, Qiskit is globally very popular for quantum simulations because it provide us the opportunity to simulate quantum logic circuit on classical computer as well as real quantum computers owned by IBM. As per our best knowledge, there is no any proposal published for quantum circuit by anyone for BB84 QKD. We performed experimentation on local as well as cloud simulators: 1) The "qasm_simulator" was used as local machine simulator, and 2) The "ibmqx2" simulator was used as IBM cloud quantum simulator. The outcome of local as well as IBM simulator with and without an eavesdropper, between the two parties involved in key exchange were recorded and presented in the results section.
With the rapid advancement of quantum technologies, quantum key distribution (QKD) has become a key approach to secure communication. This study presents a software-only implementation of the BB84 QKD protocol developed in Python using IBM’s Qiskit Aer simulator. The proposed framework is designed for educational and prototyping purposes rather than for hardware-level security evaluation. The simulator models the core stages of BB84: random bit/basis generation, state preparation, basis-dependent measurement, sifting, and parameter estimation via QBER, followed by conceptual post-processing. Evaluation reports (i) the expected sifted-key ratio under random basis selection, (ii) the ideal-channel QBER behavior under noise-free Aer execution, and (iii) the theoretical intercept–resend detection probability derived from standard BB84 analysis. For sequences of ≥100 bits, the implementation matches standard BB84 expectations under ideal Aer execution: an expected sifted-key ratio of ≈50%, QBER → 0 in the absence of adversarial interference, and an intercept–resend detection probability above 99.9% for m = 100 disclosed verification bits. These results demonstrate that an idealized virtual environment can reproduce the BB84 measurement–disturbance trade-off in the information-theoretic sense, without claiming physical decoherence modeling unless an explicit Aer noise model is enabled. The analysis focuses on idealized BB84 behavior, where disturbance arises solely from basis mismatch and intercept– resend measurements rather than from physical decoherence or hardware noise models. The framework provides a reproducible platform for teaching and early-stage experimentation, with future work targeting realistic noise models and advanced post-processing.
The rapid progress of quantum computing demands secure communication protocols which are beyond classical cryptographic techniques. This necessity of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is met by providing security relying on the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. In the work presented, the BB84 protocol is implemented using Qiskit platform provided by IBM. The performance is analyzed for both the ideal channel conditions and an intercept–resend eavesdropping scenario studying its security behavior and performance. 100% key agreement is observed with a QBER of 0% for the BB84 protocol executed under the ideal condition. When an eavesdropper is introduced, the QBER increases significantly, ranging from 16% to 38%, exceeding the acceptable security threshold of 11% and resulting in complete rejection of the generated key. Performance analysis carried out for key sizes between 100 and 1000 qubits shows that the execution time follows O(n) trend growing linearly. This simulation validates the correct operation of the BB84 protocol and demonstrates a detailed performance and security analysis of a QKD system using IBM Qiskit.
Quantum computing poses significant threats to conventional cryptographic techniques such as RSA and AES, motivating the need for quantum secure communication methods. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) offers information theoretic security based on fundamental quantum principles. This paper presents a simulation-based analysis of well-known QKD protocols, namely BB84, B92, and E91, using the IBM Qiskit framework. Realistic quantum channel effects, including noise, decoherence, and eavesdropping, are modeled to evaluate protocol performance. Key metrics such as error rate, secret key generation, and security characteristics are analyzed and compared. The study highlights practical challenges in QKD implementation, including hardware limitations and channel losses, and discusses insights toward scalable and robust quantum communication systems. The results support the feasibility of QKD as a promising solution for secure communication in the quantum era.