Cryptography from Noisy Storage

TL;DR

This paper introduces a cryptographic model based on noisy quantum storage, demonstrating that secure protocols like oblivious transfer remain feasible under realistic noise conditions in quantum storage.

Contribution

It presents a new security model for quantum cryptography that accounts for noise in quantum storage, extending the scope of secure protocols under practical technological constraints.

Findings

Oblivious transfer is secure regardless of quantum-storage noise levels.

The model accommodates noise in honest players' quantum operations.

Secure identification protocols are feasible within this noisy storage framework.

Abstract

We show how to implement cryptographic primitives based on the realistic assumption that quantum storage of qubits is noisy. We thereby consider individual-storage attacks, i.e. the dishonest party attempts to store each incoming qubit separately. Our model is similar to the model of bounded-quantum storage, however, we consider an explicit noise model inspired by present-day technology. To illustrate the power of this new model, we show that a protocol for oblivious transfer (OT) is secure for any amount of quantum-storage noise, as long as honest players can perform perfect quantum operations. Our model also allows the security of protocols that cope with noise in the operations of the honest players and achieve more advanced tasks such as secure identification.