Abstract
The mediated semi-quantum key distribution (MSQKD) protocol is an important research issue that lets two classical participants share secret keys securely between each other with the help of a third party (TP). However, in the existing MSQKD protocols, there are two improvable issues, namely (1) the classical participants must be equipped with expensive detectors to avoid Trojan horse attacks and (2) the trustworthiness level of TP must be honest. To the best of our knowledge, none of the existing MSQKD protocols can resolve both these issues. Therefore, this study takes Bell states as the quantum resource to propose a MSQKD protocol, in which the classical participants do not need a Trojan horse detector and the TP is dishonest. Furthermore, the proposed protocol is shown to be secure against well-known attacks and the classical participants only need two quantum capabilities. Therefore, in comparison to the existing MSQKD protocols, the proposed protocol is better practical.
Highlights
The mediated semi-quantum key distribution (MSQKD) protocol is an important research issue that lets two classical participants share secret keys securely between each other with the help of a third party (TP)
To improve the practicality of the QKD protocol, Boyer et al.[16,17] defined the semi-quantum concept and proposed the first semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) protocol that consists of two types of participants: the quantum participant and the classical participant
The assumptions, quantum capability limitations of the classical participants, and the quantum properties used in the proposed protocol are described, and a lightweight mediated semi-quantum key distribution protocol is proposed
Summary
Generating Z-basis qubits Z-basis measurement Reflecting photons without disturbance. Trustworthiness level Honest TP Semi-honest TP Almost dishonest TP Untrusted/dishonest TP. The TP has to follow the procedure of the protocol honestly and the participants can completely trust it. The participants can share their secret information with the TP. The assumption of a trustworthy TP may be impractical. The TP has to execute the protocol loyally, but it may try to obtain the participants’ secret information passively using the records of all intermediate transmissions and computations by the participants. To extract the participants’ secret information, the TP may perform any possible attacks except collaborating with other participants. This assumption is only suitable for some applications such as a quantum private comparison protocol
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