Cryptanalysis of quantum broadcast communication and authentication protocol with a one-time pad**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61272057 and 61170270).

Abstract

Chang et al. [Chin. Phys. B 23 010305 (2014)] have proposed a quantum broadcast communication and authentication protocol. However, we find that an intercept-resend attack can be preformed successfully by a potential eavesdropper, who will be able to destroy the authentication function. Afterwards, he or she can acquire the secret transmitted message or even modify it while escaping detection, by implementing an efficient man-in-the-middle attack. Furthermore, we show a simple scheme to defend this attack, that is, applying non-reusable identity strings.