Authentic Quantum Nonces (original) (raw)

Quantum Science and Technology, 2020

Abstract

Random numbers are an important ingredient in cryptographic applications, whose importance is often underestimated. For example, various protocols hinge on the requirement of using numbers only once and never again (most prominently, the one-time pad), or rest on a certain minimal entropy of a random quantity. Quantum random number generators can help fulfilling such requirements, however, they may as well be subject to attacks. Here, we consider what we coin a randomness substitution attack, in which the adversary replaces a good randomness source by another one, which produces duplicate values (over time) and perhaps numbers of low entropy. A binding between a random number and its origin is thus a certificate of quality and security, when upper level applications rest on the good properties of quantum randomness.

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