Dynamic Multi-Party Quantum Key Agreement Protocol Based on Commutative Encryption

Sun et al. [Quantum Inf. Process., 2101–2111 (2016)] proposed an efficient MQKA protocol based on commutative encryption to protect secret key exchange among multiple parties against internal and external threats. During distribution, each participant encrypts the received message using their local key; this approach was employed to provide high security. The goal is to avoid relying on a single participant to share a secret key. To avoid participant malpractice and external threats, each participant should actively engage in key generation. Mohajer et al. [Quantum Inf. Process., 1–9 (2017)] used commutative encryption to cryptanalyze the MQKA protocol, which was introduced by Sun et al. In a circular group, Mohajer et al. proposed that malicious participants try to manipulate the other participants by generating a fake key. Both approaches are effective at generating keys that protect against both internal and external threats. However, it should be proposed that the aforesaid protocol be used to ensure secure secret key generation when there are multiple participants. Furthermore, both of the aforementioned approaches take a long time to generate secret keys, which is undesirable because it may allow an outsider (malicious players) to obtain or manipulate the quantum key, lowering overall network performance. As a result, we proposed a protocol for partitioning the ring network into manageable clusters. The source participant then exchanges secret keys with the other participants between each cluster. Finally, we independently examined both internal and external intrusions.