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Quantum cryptography: Secure communication in the quantum era
Najam Uddin Awais Mohammed
ITM 510 Research in Information Technology
#517
Concordia University St Paul
Chris Meehleib
05/19/2024
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Quantum cryptography: Secure communication in the quantum era
Cryptography was initially formulated in 1988 to have knowledge security aligned
with the properties of quantum physics. According to Muruganantham et al. (2020), quantum
cryptography possesses a non-cloning attribute that frustrates attackers when attempting to
alter the quantum states before being transmitted to the recipient. This mechanism operates
following the opposite movement of the position of a photon that impacts all consecutive
measures. This ensures that there is no unauthorized access to the quantum key and makes it
difficult to duplicate the unknown qubits. Quantum cryptography relies on the Heisenberg
uncertainty and can transmit data without affecting the system. The non-cloning aspect of this
phenomenon prohibits duplication of photons without accessing the word. The schematics of
quantum cryptography allow for the transmission of unknown quantum news far from light
quantum.
Research Question
How do quantum communication networks alter from traditional networks in scalability,
architecture, and protocols?
Significance
This topic particularly intrigues me due to some of the algorithms used such as Shor`s
and Grover`s algorithms. Shor`s algorithm involves a quantum computer that has changed the
basics of large integers hence indicating that asymmetric cryptography is collapsed through
collapsing of substantial prime numbers (Muruganantham et al., 2020). Quantum Key
Distribution (QKD) and Quantum Cryptography (QC) are two cryptographic methods that
incorporate quantum mechanical systems to generate and distribute cryptographic keying
material. QKD and QC use physics principles and technology to pass messages via a
dedicated communications link. This topic also interests me because quantum-resistant
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algorithms can be implemented on existing platforms to extract security through
mathematical complexity (NSA, 2024).
The BB84 QKD protocol is also made of rectilinear and diagonal basis and four
polarized photon states. According to Padmavathi et al. (2018) we determine that the bits are
encoded into qubits using photon polarization. For the secret key's successful distribution,
two communication channels should exist between the sender and receiver (classical channel
+ quantum channel). The sender prepares qubits by choosing random bits and representing
them with the use of corresponding random bias. The receiver then measures each of the
received qubits with either rectilinear or diagonal bases.
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References
Muruganantham, B., Shamili, P., Kumar, S. G., & Murugan, A. (2020). Quantum
cryptography for secured communication networks. International Journal of
Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE), 10(1), 407.
https://doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v10i1.pp407-414
NSA. (2024). National Security Agency/Central Security Service > Cybersecurity >
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Quantum Cryptography QC. Www.nsa.gov.
https://www.nsa.gov/Cybersecurity/Quantum-Key-Distribution-QKD-and-Quantum-
Cryptography-QC/
Padmavathi, V., Vardhan, Bulusu Vishnu, & Krishna, A. V. (2018). Significance of crucial
distribution using quantum cryptography. International Journal of Innovative
Computing, Information and Control, 14(1), 371–377.
