Improvement on “Quantum Key Agreement Protocol with Maximally Entangled States”

International Journal of Theoretical Physics volume 50, pages1793–1802(2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Recently, Hsueh and Chen [in Proceedings of the 14th Information Security Conference, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, pp. 236–242, 2004] proposed a quantum key agreement (QKA) protocol with maximally entangled states. Their protocol allows two users to negotiate a secret key in such a way that no one can predetermine the shared key alone. This study points out two security flaws in their protocol: (1) a legitimate but malicious user can fully control the shared key alone; (2) an eavesdropper can obtain the shared key without being detected. A possible solution is presented to avoid these attacks and also Tsai et al.’s CNOT attack [in Proceedings of the 20th Cryptology and Information Security Conference, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, pp. 210–213, 2010] on Hsueh and Chen protocol to obtain the shared key without being detected.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Road, Tainan City, 701, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Song-Kong Chong, Chia-Wei Tsai & Tzonelih Hwang

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  1. Song-Kong Chong
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  2. Chia-Wei Tsai
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  3. Tzonelih Hwang
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Correspondence to Tzonelih Hwang.

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Chong, SK., Tsai, CW. & Hwang, T. Improvement on “Quantum Key Agreement Protocol with Maximally Entangled States”. Int J Theor Phys 50, 1793–1802 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-011-0691-4

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Keywords

  • Quantum cryptography
  • Quantum key agreement
  • Maximally entangled states