Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment
The coming advent of Quantum Computing promises to jeopardize current communications security, undermining the effectiveness of traditional public-key based cryptography. Different strategies (Post-Quantum or Quantum Cryptography) have been proposed to address this problem. Many techniques and algor...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2021-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9505594/ |
| _version_ | 1818908117710143488 |
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| author | Ignazio Pedone Andrea Atzeni Daniele Canavese Antonio Lioy |
| author_facet | Ignazio Pedone Andrea Atzeni Daniele Canavese Antonio Lioy |
| author_sort | Ignazio Pedone |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The coming advent of Quantum Computing promises to jeopardize current communications security, undermining the effectiveness of traditional public-key based cryptography. Different strategies (Post-Quantum or Quantum Cryptography) have been proposed to address this problem. Many techniques and algorithms based on quantum phenomena have been presented in recent years; the most relevant example is the introduction of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). This approach allows to exchange cryptographic keys among parties and does not suffer from the development of quantum computation. Problems arise when this technique has to be deployed and combined with modern distributed infrastructures that heavily depend on cloud and virtualisation paradigms. This paper addresses the issue by presenting a new software stack that effortlessly introduces QKD in such environments. This software stack allows for agnostic integration, monitoring, and management of QKD, independent from a specific vendor or technology. Furthermore, a QKD simulator is presented, designed, and tested. This latter contribution is suitable as a low-level testing device, as an independent software module to check QKD protocols, and as a testbed to identify future practical enhancements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:05:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-84f1059ce9c841a2a89f7f65245d2d15 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:05:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-84f1059ce9c841a2a89f7f65245d2d152022-12-21T20:04:01ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362021-01-01911527011529110.1109/ACCESS.2021.31023139505594Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud EnvironmentIgnazio Pedone0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9637-2404Andrea Atzeni1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9095-8241Daniele Canavese2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4265-7743Antonio Lioy3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5669-9338Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyDipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyDipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyDipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, ItalyThe coming advent of Quantum Computing promises to jeopardize current communications security, undermining the effectiveness of traditional public-key based cryptography. Different strategies (Post-Quantum or Quantum Cryptography) have been proposed to address this problem. Many techniques and algorithms based on quantum phenomena have been presented in recent years; the most relevant example is the introduction of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). This approach allows to exchange cryptographic keys among parties and does not suffer from the development of quantum computation. Problems arise when this technique has to be deployed and combined with modern distributed infrastructures that heavily depend on cloud and virtualisation paradigms. This paper addresses the issue by presenting a new software stack that effortlessly introduces QKD in such environments. This software stack allows for agnostic integration, monitoring, and management of QKD, independent from a specific vendor or technology. Furthermore, a QKD simulator is presented, designed, and tested. This latter contribution is suitable as a low-level testing device, as an independent software module to check QKD protocols, and as a testbed to identify future practical enhancements.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9505594/Quantum cryptographyQKDquantum communicationsoftwarised infrastructures |
| spellingShingle | Ignazio Pedone Andrea Atzeni Daniele Canavese Antonio Lioy Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment IEEE Access Quantum cryptography QKD quantum communication softwarised infrastructures |
| title | Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment |
| title_full | Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment |
| title_fullStr | Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment |
| title_short | Toward a Complete Software Stack to Integrate Quantum Key Distribution in a Cloud Environment |
| title_sort | toward a complete software stack to integrate quantum key distribution in a cloud environment |
| topic | Quantum cryptography QKD quantum communication softwarised infrastructures |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9505594/ |
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