Abstract The rapid development of quantum computing poses a serious threat to traditional encryption technologies, especially in the field of image security, where existing encryption schemes struggle to withstand quantum attacks. Therefore, quantum image encryption research is crucial. In the field of quantum image encryption, keys with high randomness and high security are essential. To address the issue of insufficient randomness in quantum walks in low-dimensional spaces, this paper proposes two solutions: the high-dimensional quantum walk paradigm and the entropy-increasing circuit. The high-dimensional quantum walk paradigm enhances the complexity of random sequences by expanding the dimensions of quantum walks, while the entropy-increasing circuit boosts the entropy of the key through quantum operations, thereby improving its randomness and resistance to attacks. To verify the random performance of the entropy-increased key, it is applied to quantum image encryption, with the specific circuit implementation of the encryption process provided. Finally, experimental analysis demonstrates the security of the algorithm.
Abstract The rapid development of quantum computing poses a serious threat to traditional encryption technologies, especially in the field of image security, where existing encryption schemes struggle to withstand quantum attacks. Therefore, quantum image encryption research is crucial. In the field of quantum image encryption, keys with high randomness and high security are essential. To address the issue of insufficient randomness in quantum walks in low-dimensional spaces, this paper proposes two solutions: the high-dimensional quantum walk paradigm and the entropy-increasing circuit. The high-dimensional quantum walk paradigm enhances the complexity of random sequences by expanding the dimensions of quantum walks, while the entropy-increasing circuit boosts the entropy of the key through quantum operations, thereby improving its randomness and resistance to attacks. To verify the random performance of the entropy-increased key, it is applied to quantum image encryption, with the specific circuit implementation of the encryption process provided. Finally, experimental analysis demonstrates the security of the algorithm.
Background: Quantum image processing is rapidly developing in the field of quantum computing, and it can be successfully implemented on the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) device. Quantum image encryption holds a pivotal position in this domain. However, the encryption process often encounters security vulnerabilities and entails complex computational complexities, thereby consuming substantial quantum resources. To address this, the present study proposes a quantum image encryption algorithm based on four-dimensional chaos. Methods: The classical image is first encoded into quantum information using the Generalized Quantum Image Representation (GQIR) method. Subsequently, the trajectory of the four-dimensional chaotic system is randomized, and multi-dimensional chaotic keys are generated to initially encrypt the pixel values of the image. Then, the Arnold transformation is applied to randomly encrypt the pixel positions, resulting in the encrypted image. During the decryption process, the inverse process of encryption is employed to restore the original image. Results: We simulated this process in the Python environment, and the information entropy analysis experiment showed that the information entropy of the three encrypted images reached above 7.999, so the system has good encryption. At the same time, the correlation of the pixel distribution after the encryption algorithm is weak, which proves that the control parameters of the chaotic system can effectively reduce the correlation between pixels in the image. In the final key space analysis, the key space issued by our encryption can reach $10 140 \gg 2 128 $. Conclusion: Our method is resistant to destructive attacks and can produce scrambled images with higher encryption and usability. This algorithm solves the problems of general encryption algorithms such as periodicity, small key space, and vulnerability to statistical analysis, and proposes a reliable and effective encryption scheme. By making full use of the characteristics of Arnold transformation permutation, ergodicity and the randomness of the four-dimensional chaotic system, the encryption algorithm uses the larger key space provided by the four-dimensional Lorenz system.
In recent years, in the context of the rapid development of quantum computing technology, quantum attack methods such as Shor’s algorithm pose a serious threat to the traditional public key encryption system based on number-theoretic puzzles. Using the characteristics of quantum bits, this paper proposes a quantum grey-scale image encryption method based on alternating quantum random walk. Firstly, the quantum representation model is used to transform the image into a quantum state, and then the quantum key is generated by the alternating quantum random walk algorithm, and combined with the quantum gate operation for encrypting the grey-scale image data, which not only inherits the advantage of the anti-attack of the quantum computation, but also, through the quantum parallelism and the non-clonability, which solves the security and efficiency bottleneck of traditional image encryption in the quantum era and significantly improves the security of grey-scale image encryption. The algorithm proposed in this paper has been verified by simulation experiments, and the experimental results show that the method is excellent in encryption and decryption effects, and for the encrypted image, a number of performance analyses have been carried out, and the analysis results show that the proposed encryption method has a high degree of security, and it can effectively resist the statistical attack, noise attack, etc., and the distribution of the histogram of encrypted image is more uniform, the pixel correlation analysis is close to 1, and the information entropy is close to 7.999.
Quantum computing poses an unparalleled threat to the conventional methodologies of image encryption through its capability for mathematical-based security breaking. This paper discusses the integration of chaos theory with quantum mechanics in the development of robust algorithms for image encryption, considering the inherent vulnerabilities of classical approaches. We start with the basics of chaos theory and its implications in cryptography, emphasizing sensitivity regarding initial conditions and the unpredictability of chaotic systems. Then, we reviewed some of the existing quantum image encryption techniques and their limitations. Our analysis elucidates the potential of chaos-driven quantum algorithms for key generation and image scrambling to enhance security metrics such as key sensitivity, entropy, and unpredictability. We further discuss the performance of such algorithms in resistance against different attack vectors and their application domains, including healthcare, military, and digital rights management. The paper concludes by pointing out the directions of future research, hence calling for further development of sophisticated chaotic maps to integrate them into practical quantum image encryption solutions. The study points out that chaos-based quantum image encryption has strong potential to defend against evolving cyber threats.
Internet of Things acts an essential role in our everyday lives and it definitely has the potential to grow on the importance and revolutionize our future. However, the present communication technologies have several security related issues which is required to provide secure end to end connectivity among services. Moreover, due to recent, rapid growth of quantum technologies, most common security mechanisms considered secure today may be soon imperilled. Thus, the modern security mechanisms during their construction also require the power of quantum technologies to resist various potential attacks from quantum computers. Because of its characteristics, quantum walks (QW) is considered as a universal quantum computation paradigm that can be accepted as an excellent key generator. In this regard, in this paper a new lightweight image encryption scheme based on QW for secure data transfer in the internet of things platforms and wireless networking with edge computing is proposed. The introduced approach utilises the power of nonlinear dynamic behaviour of QW to construct permutation boxes and generates pseudo-random numbers for encrypting the plain image after dividing it into blocks. The results of the conducted simulation and numerical analyses confirm that the presented encryption algorithm is effective. The encrypted images have randomness properties, no useful data about the ciphered image can be obtained via analysing the correlation of adjacent pixels. Moreover, the entropy value is close to 8, the number of the pixel change rate is greater than 99.61%, and there is high sensitivity of the key parameters with large key space to resist various attacks.
Cryptography plays an important role in ensuring data security and authentication within information processing systems. As the prevalence of digital imagery continues to grow, safeguarding this form of data becomes increasingly crucial. However, existing security protocols, reliant on complex mathematical models, exhibit vulnerabilities in effectively protecting information from both internal and external threats. Moreover, the forthcoming advent of quantum computing poses a significant challenge, as it could decrypt data encrypted by classical. In this paper, we propose an efficient implementation scheme for a quantum image encryption algorithm combining the generalized affine transform and logistic map. We evaluated developed quantum circuits using qiskit and quantum devices to validate the encryption technique. Through comprehensive performance analysis, we have demonstrated the efficiency of the chosen encryption algorithm across various criteria. Furthermore, we introduce a hybrid methodology aimed at mitigating circuit complexity and reducing quantum cost. Leveraging the Espresso algorithm and incorporating an ancilla qubit into the circuitry, we achieve a remarkable 50\% reduction in cost while maintaining security and efficiency. Finally, we conducted robustness and security analyses to assess the resilience of our encryption method against diverse noise attacks. The results confirm that our proposed quantum image encryption technique provides a secure solution and offers precise and measurable quantum image processing capabilities.
In the context of secure communication, the increasing capabilities of quantum computing present a significant challenge to traditional encryption methods. To address this issue, this study explores an innovative approach to image encryption by utilizing quantum gates. By harnessing the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and quantum computing, the research introduces a novel encryption framework implemented through Quantum Circuit in Qiskit. The study begins with a thorough examination of quantum gates and classical encryption techniques, pointing out the vulnerabilities of classical systems in the face of quantum advancements. The encryption process involves converting images into their binary forms and then applying quantum circuits to achieve encryption. Through a series of experiments, the proposed approach’s performance is evaluated by analyzing encrypted images and various security metrics. The findings 139 highlight the potential of quantum-based encryption techniques to enhance the security of communications in the quantum era. This work contributes to the growing field of quantum cryptography by demonstrating the feasibility of applying quantum gates to secure image transmission. Furthermore, it opens the door to exploring future advancements in quantum encryption methods and their practical integration into real-world communication systems.