Quantum Voting Research Articles

Quantum Voting Machine Encoded with Microwave Photons

Abstract We propose a simple quantum voting machine using microwave photon qubit encoding, based on a setup comprising multiple microwave cavities and a coupled superconducting flux qutrit. This approach primarily relies on a multi-control single-target quantum phase gate. The scheme offers operational simplicity, requiring only a single step, while ensuring verifiability through the measurement of a single qubit phase information to obtain the voting results. And it provides voter anonymity, as the voting outcome is solely tied to the total number of affirmative votes. Our quantum voting machine also has scalability in terms of the number of voters. Additionally, the physical realization of the quantum voting machine is general and not limited to circuit QED. Quantum voting machine can be implemented as long as the multi-control single-phase quantum phase gate is realized in other physical systems. Numerical simulations indicate the feasibility of this quantum voting machine within the current quantum technology.

Enhancing cybersecurity in smart grids: Deep black box adversarial attacks and quantum voting ensemble models for blockchain privacy-preserving storage

Smart grids are getting important in today’s power management, so with that, smart grid technologies are increasingly important too. There have been a lot of concerns about smart grid technologies being hacked, and as a result, some deep black box adversarial attacks have been conducted and presented. We propose a new experimental methodology for benchmarking smart grid security with black box attacks. Additionally, concerning the type of smart grids, Smart Power Grids, deep black box adversarial attacks which can be crafted using virtually no knowledge about the target due to the inherent complexity of content available in cryptographic libraries like SecLib or Bouncy Castle how it affects security of cyber-physical power systems. We identify potential impacts of deep black box attacks on Smart Power Grids as implemented by the Department of Energy in 1996, we evaluate existing protection methods, and we find out the pitfalls thereof. With the aim of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks, we initiate a study on deep black box adversarial attacks against Smart Power Grids showing that statistically significant effects against a national Smart Power Grid are achievable with absolute security. We also probe detection of cyber security attacks on Smart Power Grids. We illustrate landscape of smart grids with numerous cyber threats and demonstrate the limitations of traditional security practices. We show the importance of machine learning to detect attacks and the unlikelihood of identification of dependable and efficient detection schemes. We describe quantum voting ensemble models as one of the most powerful techniques in the detection of cyber security attacks. Finally, we propose an experimental setup and evaluation criteria to detect cyber security attacks in smart grids using quantum voting ensemble models. Then, we talk about private data storage in blockchain based smart grid infrastructure. We give an introduction of block chain and its essentiality in smart grids. We discuss privacy issues in block chain based smart grids. We acknowledge the strength of privacy safeguards, but on the same wavelength, we realize their weaknesses. Next, we propose a quantum resistant encryption technique that enhances the privacy of smart grids. We propose quantum voting ensemble models as one of the most promising techniques to address the issue of private data storage in block chains. As a result, we provide a comparison between the proposed models and traditional approaches to privacy protection in smart grids based on an experimental performance review. Then, we propose a unified strategy to improve smart grid cyber security by incorporating deep black box attacks with quantum voting ensemble models. Finally, we disclose several benefits of such integration and perform an experimental evaluation to investigate the effectiveness of the unified approach. The results of our study identify security gaps in smart grids and propose state-of-the-art mechanisms to address them. The challenges of smart grids system require the amalgamation of blockchain, quantum voting ensemble models and deep black box adversarial attacks. We achieve this objective proposing a unified strategy. The results of this study will equally be helpful for future research and smart grid cyber security implementations.

Practical multi-party quantum homomorphic encryption

Quantum homomorphic encryption (QHE) is allowed to perform operations on encrypted data which is very useful for delegated quantum computing in quantum cloud environments. But most of current QHE schemes only consider the single-user and single-server model. To be more practical and suitable for quantum networks, multi-party QHE based on quantum voting is considered in this paper. Firstly, an improved quantum voting scheme is proposed to facilitate anonymous broadcast. Secondly, a multi-party QHE scheme is proposed based on the improved quantum voting method. The proposed QHE scheme becomes more practical and flexible due to the reduction of the cost of delegated quantum computation, which significantly contributes to broadening the applicability of QHE in quantum networks.

A receipt-free quantum voting protocol based on quantum public key encryption and quantum key agreement

To better protect the privacy of voters, a receipt-free quantum voting protocol is first proposed, which adopts quantum key agreement and quantum public key encryption with single photons. We employ Lagrange interpolation polynomials and random numbers to blind the voting information on the bulletin board, so that it can minimize the public information. Furthermore, our receipt-free quantum voting protocol is information-theoretically secure, i.e., the eavesdropper cannot get any voting information by collecting both the quantum ciphertext and the public information. In addition, compared with the existing quantum voting protocols, our protocol can meet more security attributes, such as anonymity, unrepeatability, verifiability legitimacy and especially, receipt-freeness.

A Secure Scheme Based on a Hybrid of Classical-Quantum Communications Protocols for Managing Classical Blockchains.

Blockchain technology affords data integrity protection and building trust mechanisms in transactions for distributed networks, and, therefore, is seen as a promising revolutionary information technology. At the same time, the ongoing breakthrough in quantum computation technology contributes toward large-scale quantum computers, which might attack classic cryptography, seriously threatening the classic cryptography security currently employed in the blockchain. As a better alternative, a quantum blockchain has high expectations of being immune to quantum computing attacks perpetrated by quantum adversaries. Although several works have been presented, the problems of impracticality and inefficiency in quantum blockchain systems remain prominent and need to be addressed. First, this paper develops a quantum-secure blockchain (QSB) scheme by introducing a consensus mechanism-quantum proof of authority (QPoA) and an identity-based quantum signature (IQS)-wherein QPoA is used for new block generation and IQS is used for transaction signing and verification. Second, QPoA is developed by adopting a quantum voting protocol to achieve secure and efficient decentralization for the blockchain system, and a quantum random number generator (QRNG) is deployed for randomized leader node election to protect the blockchain system from centralized attacks like distributed denial of service (DDoS). Compared to previous work, our scheme is more practical and efficient without sacrificing security, greatly contributing to better addressing the challenges in the quantum era. Extensive security analysis demonstrates that our scheme provides better protection against quantum computing attacks than classic blockchains. Overall, our scheme presents a feasible solution for blockchain systems against quantum computing attacks through a quantum strategy, contributing toward quantum-secured blockchain in the quantum era.

Novel traveling quantum anonymous voting scheme via GHZ states

Based on traveling ballot mode, we propose a secure quantum anonymous voting via Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) states. In this scheme, each legal voter performs unitary operation on corresponding position of particle sequence to encode his/her voting content. The voters have multiple ballot items to choose rather than just binary options “yes” or “no”. After counting votes phase, any participant who is interested in voting results can obtain the voting results. To improve the efficiency of the traveling quantum anonymous voting scheme, an optimization method based on grouping strategy is also presented. Compared with the most existing traveling quantum voting schemes, the proposed scheme is more practical because of its privacy, verifiability and non-repeatability. Furthermore, the security analysis shows that the proposed traveling quantum anonymous voting scheme can prevent various attacks and ensure high security.

Quantum voting protocol without quantum memory

Most of the quantum voting protocols are impractical due to the currently limited quantum storage capabilities. In this article, based on the interference principle of light, we proposed a new quantum voting protocol without quantum memory. In our protocol, the ballot is a sequence of non-orthogonal coherent states, the voting information is encoded by implying different phase shifts on the coherent states, and the vote counting is carried out by performing USD measurement on the coherent states. Particularly, the design of USD measurement on coherent states eliminates the need for quantum storage. Our protocol satisfies the general security requirements of quantum voting protocols and can resist various attacks. In addition, our protocol can be implemented by only linear optics and thus can be experimentally achieved with current technology.

Single particle electronic voting scheme based on quantum ring signature

Based on the ring signature approach, this paper proposes a quantum voting protocol using single-particle states where voters can choose their voters from among the candidates without revealing their identities. In this protocol, voters hide their voting information into the envelope prepared by the voting center and the vote-counter through the quantum Fourier transform and the unitary operation, the voting center and the vote-counter will each generate only half of the voter’s identity information, and the voter’s identity information is secured by the mutual supervision of the voting center and the vote-counter. Because the protocol uses single particle states, which effectively reduces the difficulty of implementing this protocol, the security analysis shows that the protocol is secure.

Integration of a Quantum Voting Scheme into Grayscale Images Using the Novel Enhanced Quantum Representation and Qiskit Framework

This paper illustrates the way a proposed quantum voting scheme can be designed in combination with a steganography technique called Least Significant Bit (LSB), by modifying a small number of pixels in multiple grayscale images. It combines the voting scheme with the novel enhanced quantum representation (NEQR) of an image, where the LSBs of these pixels represent the vote for each entity that takes part in the voting process. A server is also used, not only to count but also to guarantee the integrity of the votes (which is done inherently, by its design and quantum properties). The superdense coding circuit is part of the design, allowing each voter to use one qubit in order to transmit two classical bits (the vote value). The selected platform for testing this scheme is IBM Quantum Experience, together with the open-source framework called Qiskit (written in Python). This framework allows users to create various quantum circuits, using a wide selection of quantum gates, and then to simulate them, either on a simulator or on a real quantum device. The quantum circuits and the measurement results are also presented in this paper.

Efficient Quantum Blockchain With a Consensus Mechanism QDPoS

Quantum blockchain is expected to offer an alternative to classical blockchain to resist malicious attacks laughed by future quantum computers. Although a few quantum blockchain schemes have been constructed, their efficiency is low and unable to meet application requirements due to the fact that they lack of a suitable consensus mechanism. To tackle this issue, a consensus mechanism called quantum delegated proof of stake (QDPoS) is constructed by using quantum voting to provide fast decentralization for the quantum blockchain scheme at first. Then an efficient scheme is proposed for quantum blockchain based on QDPoS, where the classical information is initialized as a part of each single quantum state and these quantum states are entangled to form the chain. Compared with previous methods, the designed quantum blockchain scheme is more complete and carried out with higher efficiency, which greatly contributes to better adapting to the challenges of the quantum era.

Quantum state sharing of an arbitrarym-particle state using Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen pairs and application in quantum voting

In this paper, we propose a scheme where Alice shares an arbitrary m-particle unknown state with her agents, Bob and Charlie. Alice starts by distributing 2m Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen pairs with her agents and performs m joint three-particle Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state measurements on her particles. Bob, who acts as the controller, performs a product measurement [Formula: see text] on his m qubit states while Charlie retrieves the original state by performing unitary operations on his m particles. Subsequently, we demonstrate our proposed scheme’s feasibility by applying it in electronic voting by sharing an arbitrary single-particle state.

Quantum Voting in Reach for Ethereum and Algorand

This White Paper introduces and contributes the first implementation of the Decentralized Voting Algorithm. First, Part I provides an overview for the software structures relevant to this work. Second, Part II introduces a decentralized voting algorithm for transferring value on blockchain networks. Third, Part III explains the voting algorithm’s implementation in reach, including the backend architecture, web deployment, and quantum integration. Perhaps most significantly, this paper solves the Decentralized Voting Problem with a new quantum consensus system.

A Secure Quantum Voting Scheme Based on Orthogonal Product States

As an important topic of quantum cryptography, quantum voting has attracted more and more attention in recent years. In this paper, we propose a quantum voting scheme based on a new set of orthogonal product states. Since different particles in the same orthogonal product state are transmitted separately, the security of the vote message in the scheme can be protected. The availability and security analysis show that the scheme satisfies the basic properties of voting can resist known quantum attacks. Furthermore, our scheme solves the problem of difficult preparation of entangled states in actual situations and improves the practicability of voting scheme. We hoped that our research will provide new ideas for the further study of quantum voting.

A Novel Quantum Voting Scheme Based on BB84-State

BB84-state is the non-orthogonal single-photon state which has the advantage of easy implementation compared with the quantum multi-photon entanglement states. In this paper, based on BB84-state, by introducing a trusted third-party voting center, a quantum voting scheme is proposed. In this scheme, by performing corresponding unitary operation on BB84-state, all voters send their voting information to the tallyman Charlie, then Charlie counts all votes under the supervision of voting management center Bob, which ensures that the protocol can resist inside attacks. Moreover, by utilizing the decoy particles, our scheme can efficiently prevent outside attacks. Compared with other related quantum voting protocols, our protocol has higher qubit efficiency and fewer interactive times.

A quantum voting protocol using single-particle states

Based on the single-particle states, we propose a novel quantum voting protocol which can select multiple winners from candidates. In this protocol, the voting intentions of voters can be expressed through unitary operation, the voter’s ID information is contained in the ballot, and each ballot is encrypted. In addition, legitimate vote can neither be forged by malicious attackers nor be denied by voters. Considering the influence of the number of candidates and voters on the preparation of quantum states, we propose corresponding grouping strategies, respectively, to reduce the level of d-level single-particle states and the number of quantum states. Security analysis shows that our proposed protocol can resist different types of malicious attacks.

Anonymous quantum voting protocol based on Chinese remainder theorem

Electronic voting is an essential tool in modern society. In this paper, we investigate anonymous quantum voting for the travelling ballot. At present, there exist some anonymous quantum travelling ballot protocols, but these protocols are not practical because of the lack of non-reusability or verifiability. Based on Chinese Remainder Theorem, an anonymous quantum voting protocol of the travelling ballot is proposed with an entanglement state, where the partial qubits of the entangled state as the quantum ballot are sent to each voter one-by-one and the other as the corresponding quantum certificate to the tallyman. The proposed protocol can not only ensure non-reusability but also can verify the correctness of the votes. (1) Define phase operators as voting operators based on Chinese Remainder Theorem; (2) Present an anonymous quantum voting protocol for the travelling ballot; (3) Meet more security requirements, e.g., verifiability, non-reusability and anonymity.

Novel Quantum Voting Protocol with Eight-Qubit Cluster Entangled State

Based on an eight-qubit cluster entangled state, a novel quantum voting protocol is put forward, where the voting message of any eligible voter Bob can be transferred to the teller David with the help of multiple supervisors Alicej(j = 3, 4, ∗). The anonymous authentication between voters and the vote management center (VMC) provides the anonymity of Bob’s identity and voting contents. The supervision in the whole voting process can avoid the teller David’s dishonest behaviour. The quantum one-time pad encryption and quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols are adopted to guarantee the unconditional security of our proposed voting protocol. Additionally, the teller Bob can successfully recover the voting message with probability 1 and our protocol only depends on Bell measurement and single particle measurement, which makes our quantum voting protocol more practical and easy to implement with currently available technology.

Quantum Voting Scheme with Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger States

We propose a quantum voting scheme with Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. In this scheme, quantum sequences that are formed by different particles of different GHZ states are sent to other participants respectively. Because of the correlation of different particles in a GHZ state, different participants perform a same measurement on each particle in the sequence that they received in order to obtain a same measurement outcome. To reduce the overhead of quantum transmissions, the participants publish their results on a bulletin board. According to the information on the bulletin board, voters can check whether their voting information is correct. If an attacker tampers with the voting information, his behavior can be discovered during the verification process. Analyses show that our new scheme has high efficiency and can withstand all the known attacks.

The Cryptanalysis and Improvement of a Particular Quantum Voting Model

As an important topic of quantum cryptography, quantum voting has attracted more and more attentions recently. However, with our analysis, it can be seen that there exist some serious problems in a particular quantum voting model. Firstly, the voter does not have the ability to vote as his own. Secondly, the voter may be dishonest and can deny some corresponding voting results. Furthermore, some improvements will be presented to solve the loopholes.

A Secure Quantum Voting Scheme Based on Quantum Group Blind Signature

We proposed a secure quantum voting scheme employing five-qubit cluster state as quantum channel. It is based on quantum group blind signature. With the help and supervision of group manager Charlie, voters Alice sends vote and opinions and proposal to verifier Bob. Meanwhile, voting requires the signature of the organization administrator David. Adopting the techniques of group signature and blind signature, it can flexibly add new voters and enhance the message owner’s anonymity. Moreover, it uses quantum key distribution and one-time pad to guarantee its unconditional security. In addition, this scheme analyses the resistance under various attacks and proves that is an efficient and secure scheme.