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Hybrid Authentication Protocols for Advanced Quantum Networks

Suchetana Goswami, Mina Doosti, Elham Kashefi

TL;DR

This work introduces a new authentication approach that combines hardware assumptions, particularly Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), along with fundamental quantum properties of non-local states, such as local indistinguishability, to achieve provable security in entanglement-based protocols.

Abstract

Authentication is a fundamental building block of secure quantum networks, essential for quantum cryptographic protocols and often debated as a key limitation of quantum key distribution (QKD) in security standards. Most quantum-safe authentication schemes rely on small pre-shared keys or post-quantum computational assumptions. In this work, we introduce a new authentication approach that combines hardware assumptions, particularly Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), along with fundamental quantum properties of non-local states, such as local indistinguishability, to achieve provable security in entanglement-based protocols. We propose two protocols for different scenarios in entanglement-enabled quantum networks. The first protocol, referred to as the offline protocol, requires pre-distributed entangled states but no quantum communication during the authentication phase. It enables a server to authenticate clients at any time with only minimal classical communication. The second, an online protocol, requires quantum communication but only necessitates entangled state generation on the prover side. For this, we introduce a novel hardware module, the Hybrid Entangled PUF (HEPUF). Both protocols use weakly secure, off-the-shelf classical PUFs as their hardware module, yet we prove that quantum properties such as local indistinguishability enable exponential security for authentication, even in a single round. We provide full security analysis for both protocols and establish them as the first entanglement-based extension of hardware-based quantum authentication. These protocols are suitable for implementation across various platforms, particularly photonics-based ones, and offer a practical and flexible solution to the long-standing challenge of authentication in quantum communication networks.

Hybrid Authentication Protocols for Advanced Quantum Networks

TL;DR

This work introduces a new authentication approach that combines hardware assumptions, particularly Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), along with fundamental quantum properties of non-local states, such as local indistinguishability, to achieve provable security in entanglement-based protocols.

Abstract

Authentication is a fundamental building block of secure quantum networks, essential for quantum cryptographic protocols and often debated as a key limitation of quantum key distribution (QKD) in security standards. Most quantum-safe authentication schemes rely on small pre-shared keys or post-quantum computational assumptions. In this work, we introduce a new authentication approach that combines hardware assumptions, particularly Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), along with fundamental quantum properties of non-local states, such as local indistinguishability, to achieve provable security in entanglement-based protocols. We propose two protocols for different scenarios in entanglement-enabled quantum networks. The first protocol, referred to as the offline protocol, requires pre-distributed entangled states but no quantum communication during the authentication phase. It enables a server to authenticate clients at any time with only minimal classical communication. The second, an online protocol, requires quantum communication but only necessitates entangled state generation on the prover side. For this, we introduce a novel hardware module, the Hybrid Entangled PUF (HEPUF). Both protocols use weakly secure, off-the-shelf classical PUFs as their hardware module, yet we prove that quantum properties such as local indistinguishability enable exponential security for authentication, even in a single round. We provide full security analysis for both protocols and establish them as the first entanglement-based extension of hardware-based quantum authentication. These protocols are suitable for implementation across various platforms, particularly photonics-based ones, and offer a practical and flexible solution to the long-standing challenge of authentication in quantum communication networks.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 6 sections, 5 theorems, 39 equations, 3 figures, 1 table, 2 algorithms.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Preliminaries
  3. Our new hybrid construction
  4. Offline Authentication Protocol with Bell States
  5. Online Authentication Protocols with Higher-dimensional States
  6. Discussion and Future Directions

Key Result

Lemma 1

When the states $\ket{\Phi^+}$$(=1/\sqrt{2}(\ket{00}+\ket{11}))$, and $\ket{\Psi^-}$$(=1/\sqrt{2}(\ket{01}-\ket{10}))$ are distributed among two spatially separated parties, who are allowed to perform measurements either in the computational or in the Hadamard basis probabilistically (governed by th

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Schematic for the offline protocol with pre-shared Bell states from a trusted source.
  • Figure 2: Schematic for the online protocol with HEPUF.
  • Figure 3: The success probability of the adversary to extract the database per round and after $m$ rounds. All the axes are unitless.

Theorems & Definitions (14)

  • Definition 1: Probabilistic Function (from chakraborty23)
  • Definition 2: $p$-Randomness (from chakraborty23)
  • Lemma 1
  • proof
  • Definition 3: Universal Unforgeability (informal)
  • Definition 4: HEPUF
  • Theorem 1
  • proof
  • Theorem 2
  • proof
  • ...and 4 more