Serious security: Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution guards against the most general attacks

Monday, October 20, 2014 - 08:31 in Physics & Chemistry

The Holy Grail of quantum cryptography – beyond delivering security that cannot be classically achieved – is guaranteeing unconditional security when the untrusted quantum devices are involved. While this goal has been studied since the early 1990s, a robust solution has proven elusive. Although Jonathan Barrett and his co-authors published2,3 a strong Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (DIQKD) security guarantee in 2005, it focused on a weaker set of constraints than those imposed by quantum mechanics – specifically, the no-signaling property dictated by special relativity – which thereby yielded stronger results. At the same time, however, it had several drawbacks, including low efficiency and, most importantly, an assumption of independence between the different occurrences when the devices are used.

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