Quantum Key Exchange (QKE, also known as Quantum Key Distribution or QKD) allows communicating parties to securely establish cryptographic keys. It is a well-established fact that all QKE protocols require that the parties have access to an authentic channel. Without this authenticated link, QKE is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. Overlooking this fact results in exaggerated claims and/or false expectations about the potential impact of QKE. In this paper we present a systematic comparison of QKE with traditional key establishment protocols in realistic secure communication systems.
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0406147,
title = {Quantum cryptography: a practical information security perspective},
author = {Kenneth G. Paterson and Fred Piper and Ruediger Schack},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0406147},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages, new title, published version, minor changes only