Practical Evaluation of a Quantum Physical Unclonable Function and Design of an Authentication Scheme

With the increase of digital devices, the need for robust authentication mechanisms has become crucial. Traditional methods relying on cryptographic key management are susceptible to various risks, particularly the exposure of keys to interception or theft. As cyber threats evolve, the short-comings of these methods are accentuated, necessitating more secure solutions. Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) have emerged as a potential alternative, utilizing inherent hardware variations for device authentication without stored secrets. However, recent studies reveal vulnerabilities in conventional PUF implementations. Simultaneously, there's a growing recognition for authentication mechanisms tailored for quantum devices. This recognition has prompted the exploration of Quantum PUFs (QPUFs), which represent a promising solution to enhance security and reliability, leveraging the unique properties of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we propose a novel approach using QPUFs for device authentication that does not require any quantum communication channel or even quantum memory. We design a quantum circuit to serve as a QPUF, evaluating metrics such as instability, randomness, and uniqueness. Additionally, we devise an authentication scheme that exploits the challenge-response paradigm, taking advantage of the distinctive properties of quantum PUFs. Furthermore, we delineate a threat model to identify and mitigate potential risks associated with the authentication process. By assessing the proposed QPUFs efficacy on real real quantum hardware provided by IBM, this research contributes to the advancement of secure authentication protocols in quantum era.