arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Fei Gao.
Two misuses of one-time pad in improving the efficiency of quantum communication are pointed out. One happens when using some message bits to encrypt others, the other exists because the key bits are not truly random. Both of them result in the decrease of security. Therefore, one-time pad should be used carefully in designing quantum communication protocols.
In a recent paper [Z. J. Zhang and Z. X. Man, Phys. Rev. A 72, 022303(2005)], a multiparty quantum secret sharing protocol based on entanglement swapping was presented. However, as we show, this protocol is insecure in the sense that an unauthorized agent group can recover the secret from the dealer. Hence, we propose an improved version of this protocol which can stand against this kind of attack.
The security of quantum exam [Phys. Lett. A 350 (2006) 174] is analyzed and it is found that this protocol is secure for any eavesdropper except for the "students" who take part in the exam. Specifically, any student can steal other examinees' solutions and then cheat in the exam. Furthermore, a possible improvement of this protocol is presented.
A quantum key distribution protocol based on entanglement swapping is proposed. Through choosing particles by twos from the sequence and performing Bell measurements, two communicators can detect eavesdropping and obtain the secure key. Because the two particles measured together are selected out randomly, we need neither alternative measurements nor rotations of the Bell states to obtain security.
With the help of a simple quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme, we discuss the relation between BB84-type protocols and two-step-type ones. It is shown that they have the same essence, i.e., information-splitting. More specifically, the similarity between them includes (1) the carrier state is split into two parts which will be sent one by one; (2) the possible states of each quantum part are indistinguishable; (3) anyone who obtains both parts can recover the initial carrier state and then distinguish it from several possible states. This result is useful for related scheme designing and security analyzing.
In the paper [Zhang, Li and Guo, Phys. Rev. A 64, 024302 (2001)], a quantum key distribution protocol based on quantum encryption was proposed, in which the quantum key can be reused. However, it is shown that, if Eve employs a special strategy to attack, this protocol becomes insecure because of the reused quantum key. That is, Eve can elicit partial information about the key bits without being detected. Finally, a possible improvement of the Zhang-Li-Guo protocol is proposed.
In a recent paper [S. Bagherinezhad and V. Karimipour, Phys. Rev. A 67, 044302 (2003)], a quantum secret sharing protocol based on reusable GHZ states was proposed. However, in this Comment, it is shown that this protocol is insecure if Eve employs a special strategy to attack.
In the paper [Phys. Rev. A 65, 052331(2002)], an entanglement-based quantum key distribution protocol for d-level systems was proposed. However, in this Comment, it is shown that this protocol is insecure for a special attack strategy.
A quantum key distribution and identification protocol is proposed, which is based on entanglement swapping. Through choosing particles by twos from the sequence and performing Bell measurements, two communicators can detect eavesdropping, identify each other and obtain the secure key according to the measurement results. Because the two particles measured together are selected out randomly, we need neither alternative measurements nor rotation of the Bell states. Furthermore, less Bell measurements are needed in our protocol than in the previous similar ones.