Quantum Key Distribution as a Service and Its Injection into TLS
| Accepted | November 2023 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sergejs Kozlovičs, Krišjānis Petručeņa, Dāvis Lāriņš, Juris Vīksna |
| Venue | Conference proceedings |
| DOI | 10.1007/978-981-99-7032-2_31 |
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a key agreement method that relies on the laws of physics and ensures that the keys have not been eavesdropped on or modified by a third party. While commercial QKD devices are available, they are expensive, require specific infrastructure, and have high operational expenses. This paper proposes an architecture and a set of protocols for implementing QKD as a service (QaaS), where end users communicate with QaaS via classical TLS channels secured with post-quantum cryptography (PQC). It strengthens classical links against active classical and quantum attacks on any single communication segment, shows integration with TLS 1.3, and demonstrates reduced signature usage in handshakes where post-quantum signatures are large.