Enhanced image encryption algorithm by quantum key distribution

Abstract

Abstract Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is one type of Quantum Cryptography (QC) which is based on quantum mechanics fundamentals such as Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and No-cloning theory. The usage of QKD warns the legitimate communicated parties to any attack attempt and this is the most interesting security parameter. Therefore, QKD provides unconditional secure communication method and supports a powerful encryption scheme. The combination between classical communication and QKD creates a new technique called semi quantum key distribution SQKD. Unfortunately, SQKD increases the schemes complexity and requires two steps for ciphering, scramble and encryption. In this paper an enhance image encryption algorithm is proposed based on QKD that eliminates most of the drawbacks of SQKD. The proposed algorithm is simpler than other encryption schemes as it exploits only one encryption step based on the power and the randomness of the generated secret key, which decreases the chance to be cracked. The correctness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm are validated by numerical simulations.