Quantum encryption and authentication protocols
Seong-Moo Yoo, Yoshito Kanamori · 2006
The demands for secure communication systems have been growing rapidly as technologies in computer networks advance. However, classical cryptography employed in network systems is only secure when malicious users do not have enough computational power to break the security in a practical amount of time. Quantum cryptography provides theoretically unbreakable security since its security relies on quantum mechanical properties. This dissertation resolves the weakness of classical cryptography in computer networks by developing novel cryptographic schemes. First, a new encryption scheme, quantum commutative encryption (QCE), has been developed by utilizing quantum superposition states. The analysis of possible attacks to the developed encryption scheme, the advantages of the developed scheme, and the requirements to utilize the developed scheme in a communication system are presented. Also, an example of realization with current technologies is shown. Considering all the characteristics of the developed encryption scheme, a key distribution protocol, two authentication protocols, secret sharing scheme, and the possible practical application of the secret sharing scheme are designed by making use of the developed encryption scheme. This dissertation also discusses the security analysis for each developed scheme. All developed quantum cryptographic schemes are theoretically unbreakable and can be realized with current technologies. The main contributions of this dissertation are not only the proposal of novel schemes, but also a demonstration of how quantum mechanical properties can be utilized in computer engineering/science.