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 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.
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.
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 emergence of quantum computing is expected to break many conventional cryptographic algorithms currently used for authentication and secure communication. Existing security mechanisms in Next Generation Networks (NGNs), including 5G, IoT, smart healthcare, and cloud-based systems, are increasingly vulnerable to future quantum attacks. This research presents a lightweight and efficient Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) based authentication framework specifically designed for next generation network environments. The proposed framework combines quantum-resistant cryptographic techniques with optimized authentication procedures to provide secure identity verification, confidential communication, and attack resistance with minimal computational complexity. The model emphasizes reduced overhead, faster authentication response, and scalability for resource-constrained devices. Security analysis shows that the framework can effectively defend against replay attacks, impersonation attacks, session hijacking, and quantum-based cryptanalytic threats. Experimental evaluation indicates that the proposed approach achieves improved security performance while maintaining low latency and reduced resource consumption, making it suitable for practical deployment in future intelligent communication networks.
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.
The Hybrid approach in Quantum Cryptography creates adaptable security model which provides the safest Communication in the emerging quantum era. The development of quantum computing raise questions about the long-term security. Traditional algorithms, such as RSA, ECC, and Diffie-Hellman, which is seemed computationally secure but it can be effectively solved by quantum algorithms such as Shor's and Grover's. This problem leads to the origination of two key trends in current studies, namely Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), designing mathematical approaches to encryption resistant to quantum attacks; Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) using the principles of quantum mechanics to assure security in communications. Accordingly, this research proposes a hybrid security framework including reliable data encryption and authentication using PQC, combined with the safe key- exchange method of QKD. The model is implemented in Python, Qiskit, and PQClean's Kyber and Dilithium algorithms to show how these two paradigms can cooperate toward quantum- resilient communication. To present the system performance, key exchange efficiency, computational overhead, and security strength have been considered. According to the results, this hybrid approach gives superior defense against quantum threats while maintaining practical effectiveness for real-world applications such as cloud security, 6G networks, and the Internet of Things.