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This article presents a novel network protocol that incorporates a quantum photonic channel for symmetric key distribution, a Dilithium signature to replace factor-based public key cryptography for enhanced authentication, security, and privacy. The protocol uses strong hash functions to hash original messages and verify heightened data integrity at the destination. This Quantum good authentication protocol (QGP) provides high-level security provided by the theory of quantum mechanics. QGP also has the advantage of quantum-resistant data protection that prevents current digital computer and future quantum computer attacks. QGP transforms the transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) by adding a quantum layer at the bottom of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (layer 0) and modifying the top layer (layer 7) with Dilithium signatures, thus improving the security of the original OSI model. In addition, QGP incorporates strong encryption, hardware-based quantum channels, post-quantum signatures, and secure hash algorithms over a platform of decryptors, switches, routers, and network controllers to form a testbed of the next-generation, secure quantum internet. The experiments presented here show that QGP provides secure authentication and improved security and privacy and can be adopted as a new protocol for the next-generation quantum internet.
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Assessing the Viability of Quantum-Resistant IKEv2 over Constrained and Internet-Scale Networks
Within 1–2 decades, quantum computers may become powerful enough to break current public-key cryptography, prompting authorities such as the IETF and NIST to push for adopting quantum-resistant cryptography (QRC) in ecosystems like Internet Protocol Security (IPsec). Yet, IPsec struggles to adopt QRC, primarily because Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2 (IKEv2), which sets up IPsec sessions, cannot easily tolerate the large public keys and digital signatures of QRC. Many IETF RFCs have been proposed to integrate QRC into IKEv2, but their performance and interplay remain largely untested in practice. In this paper, we measure the performance of these RFCs over constrained links by developing a flexible, reproducible measurement testbed for IPsec with quantum-resistant IKEv2 proposals. Deploying our testbed in lossy wireless links and on the internationally distributed FABRIC testbed for Internet scenarios, we reveal that bottlenecks arise with quantum-resistant IKEv2 under high round-trip times, non-trivial packet loss, or other constraints. Our results, including the revelation of a 400–1000-fold increase in data overhead over high-loss wireless links, expose the shortcomings of today’s RFCs and call for further work in this vital area of post-quantum network security.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2239931
- PAR ID:
- 10667667
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 28 to 33
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3733825.3765281
