Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.
Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.
Quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems based on integer factorization and discrete logarithm problems. This paper proposes a hybrid secure communication framework integrating Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for authentication. The BB84 protocol is used for quantum key generation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium signatures secure the classical communication channel. A Python-based simulator models photon transmission, Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), intercept-resend attacks, and authentication verification. Results show that QBER increases proportionally with eavesdropping probability, enabling reliable attack detection. The integration of QKD secrecy with PQC authentication ensures both confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates that the additional latency introduced by PQC authentication remains within acceptable limits. The proposed hybrid framework provides a scalable and quantum-resistant solution suitable for next-generation secure communication systems.
The high pace of quantum computing development presents a serious risk to classical cryptographic systems like RSA and ECC in that quantum-resilient communication systems must be developed. The present paper will suggest Quantum Blind Signature-based Hybrid Quantum Key Distribution (QKD -QBS) to provide secure and authenticated quantum communication. The proposed architecture uses both BB84 and Decoy-State QKD protocols with Quantum Blind Signature (QBS) authentication layer in order to support quantum key generation and verification of entities in the same session. The framework is simulated and tested with IBM Qiskit Aer simulator in realistic channel noise situations. Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER), Secret Key Retention (SKR), Quantum Entropy (H), Authentication Latency and Security Index (SI) are used as performance evaluation metrics. The experimental data show that the QBER is low (0.34%), SKR is high (92.4%), entropy is nearly ideal (H=0.99) with the lowest authentication latency (0.17 ms), which proves the fact that the integration of QBS does not reduce the efficiency of the key generation but the reliability of authentication. The hybrid framework proposed has information-theoretic security using the principles of quantum mechanics and strong resistance to impersonation, re-play and man in the middle attacks. The findings show that QKDQBS model provides a scalable and solid platform of next generation secure communication systems, such as IoT,5G/6Gnetworks, and cloud-based quantum systems.
Abstract The current paper presents a quantum-classical cryptographic protocol, which is a hybrid of the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol and a lattice-based post-quantum signature scheme, CRYSTALS-Dilithium. Such a mix is to create a safe channel of communication that is resistant to classical and quantum assaults. The protocol relies on the unconditional security of QKD to exchange keys in a symmetric way and addresses the vulnerability of QKD to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks by strong classical authentication provided by PQC signatures. Another important invention of this work is the ever-refreshing of the keys. This is to enable the periodic updating of the session key without necessarily having to undergo the entire re-authentication two-way handshake. This is enhanced to improve forward secrecy and reduce the computational requirements. To demonstrate the viability and security aspects of the protocol, we give a theoretical framework and a simulation of the protocol by IBMs Qiskit. The protocol showed that it was able to generate secure keys successfully which was in line with the theoretical expectations. The embedded CRYSTALS-Dilithium signature provides effective authentication that ensures that the hybrid system is viable and does not cause any performance problem. The simulation results quantitatively validate the protocol's security and performance, demonstrating a QBER of 0.7% under ideal conditions, which is well below the 25% abort threshold. These findings indicate that this mixed solution is an effective solution to secure long-term communications in the quantum age.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a pioneering development in secure communication, an information-theoretic secure communications protocol that is founded on quantum mechanics. However, the effectiveness of such systems which safeguard the classical communication mediums against interception and impersonation depends on the strength of the authentication mechanisms that are used in the QKD systems. The proposed study is Hybrid Quantum Authentication Framework that is based on a combination of Wegman-Carter authentication, Quantum Digital Signature (QDS), and Post-quantum Cryptography (PQC) to counter new threats of Man-in-the-Middle (MITM), replay, and key exhaustion attacks. Based on the Quantum Encryption Dataset retrieved on the Kaggle platform, the framework was experimentally tested following the dataset augmentation to incorporate the authentication parameters and simulated attack labels. The results of the experiment prove that the hybrid model proposed can attain an authentication accuracy of 98.6%, which is significantly higher than that of standalone methods, MISM and replay attack detection rates of 99 and 98, respectively. The architecture lowers the key consumption by more than 40 percent, keeps the latency at 1.28 ms and the throughput at 92 percent, proving the scalability and computational efficiency of the architecture. Comparable performance and scalability studies also indicate that the model remains highly reliable as the size of the network increases with little growth in the latency. Generally, the suggested hybrid solution is robust, flexible and effective authentication of QKD networks and a viable solution in the next-generation quantum-safe communications infrastructure that can withstand classical and quantum attackers.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is increasingly recognized as a robust solution to the vulnerabilities posed by quantum computing to classical encryption systems. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation of the BB84 protocol, the foundational QKD scheme, through simulated quantum communication using IBM’s Qiskit framework. The study models quantum key exchange under both ideal and adversarial conditions, including channel noise and intercept-resend attacks. The Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) was measured as a function of noise intensity and eavesdropping, confirming that QBER increases predictably in compromised channels. A threshold of 11% QBER was used to determine the viability of secure key generation. Final key retention rates were analyzed across multiple channel scenarios, revealing BB84’s sensitivity to both photon loss and adversarial interference.\n\nSecurity vulnerabilities such as photon-number-splitting and detector blinding were assessed, and countermeasures including decoy-state protocols and authenticated classical channels were proposed. Four key performance graphs were generated to visualize system behavior under realistic operational conditions. The results support BB84’s theoretical advantage in ensuring information-theoretic security while acknowledging real-world limitations in transmission range and hardware reliability. The paper concludes by addressing future improvements in QKD systems, including satellite-based distribution, quantum repeaters, and device-independent implementations. Through simulation-driven analysis, this study validates BB84 as a practical defense against quantum-enabled attacks and underscores the need for continued development and standardization in post-quantum cryptographic infrastructure.
Quantum computing is posing a serious risk to classical cryptographic tools such as RSA and ECC as sophisticated quantum algorithms are able to crack their mathematical foundation in a time bound that is a a polynomial in the number of repetitions. In this paper, we will describe the process of integrating Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) into a hybrid approach to secure communications in the post-quantum world. The suggested methodology is a combination of the computational efficiency and scalability of PQC and the information-theoretic security and eavesdropping detection abilities of QKD. Simulation observations indicate that PQC-only systems are both faster in generating keys and scalable, but do not have a strong eavesdropping detection. On the other hand, non-conditional security is only a feature of systems based on QKD, but it is also highly overhead and slows down key rate. The hybrid PQC-Q KD model provides a balanced performance, high resilience, high authentication, high confidentiality, and realistic deployability. On balance, this discussion demonstrates that the hybrid approach is better than standalone methods and can provide a strong solution to protect against new quantum threats. The large-scale network protocol can be optimized, resources and further integration with other emerging technologies, such as 5G/6G, IoT or cloud computing, can be directed in future research.