Shaanxi Normal University’s Quantum QSS Scheme Features Leakage Control

Researchers at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi’an have developed a new quantum secret sharing scheme designed to address a critical vulnerability in existing protocols: information leakage from participants.

The team affiliated with the School of Mathematics and Statistics presents a method for detecting intermediate sets, groups capable of partially revealing a secret without full reconstruction, and a scheme incorporating this detection capability. This work focuses on sharing quantum secrets and analyzes reconstruction communication cost based on the number of parties involved, identifying a range that minimizes this cost. The results verify the communication efficiency and security of the proposed scheme, addressing bottlenecks in general quantum networks such as high communication cost and low transmission efficiency. This new approach addresses a fundamental challenge within QSS: balancing communication efficiency with robust security. Traditional perfect quantum secret sharing (PQSS) schemes demand substantial quantum communication and storage, limiting their practicality. Ramp schemes offer a potential solution by lowering these demands, but introduce the risk of partial information exposure via intermediate sets, participant groups that fall between authorized and forbidden access levels. The researchers present a method for detecting these intermediate sets, allowing for mitigation strategies before sensitive data is compromised. Further analysis focused on optimizing reconstruction communication cost, a key metric for practical QSS implementation. The researchers meticulously examined how this cost scales with the number of participating parties, ultimately determining a range of participants that minimizes the required communication. This analysis builds upon prior work from 2019 to 2024 and introduces communication-efficient quantum threshold secret sharing (CE-QTS) schemes. Communication Costs in Quantum Threshold Sharing (CE-QTS) However, these ramp schemes are vulnerable to groups capable of extracting partial information, potentially leading to leakage.

The team’s innovation pinpoints the optimal number of participants needed for minimal reconstruction communication cost. This analysis builds upon work from 2019 to 2024 establishing a framework for communication-efficient quantum threshold secret sharing (CE-QTS), where combiners request only partial shares from participants, drastically reducing the quantum information transmitted. Earlier work introduced communication-efficient quantum threshold secret sharing (CE-QTS), and subsequent studies have explored its generalization and bounds. Their analysis extends beyond simply defining a lower bound on communication; it seeks to determine the range of participants that minimizes this cost. This is particularly relevant given that conventional threshold sharing demands each participant send complete shares, resulting in a communication cost proportional to the secret’s size multiplied by the number of participants.

The team used extended CSS codes in the construction of their CE-QTS schemes, aiming for optimal storage overhead and reconstruction efficiency. This work builds on investigations into Non-PQSS schemes, where intermediate sets are inherent, and seeks to mitigate the risks associated with partial information leakage. The findings represent a step toward more practical and secure quantum communication networks. This new work proactively identifies these potentially compromising intermediate sets. Researchers affiliated with the School of Mathematics and Statistics present a method for detecting intermediate sets, a crucial step missing from many existing non-perfect QSS protocols. This detection method is integrated into a communication-efficient perfect quantum secret sharing scheme, adding an eavesdropping detection capability. Ramp Schemes and Security Against Partial Information Leakage This presents a significant security challenge, particularly as quantum networks become increasingly complex and interconnected. Previous work largely focused on minimizing communication costs without directly addressing the information leakage risk. This new method proactively identifies participant combinations that could potentially compromise the secret, allowing for mitigation strategies to be implemented. Although the participants in an intermediate set cannot fully reconstruct the secret, they may still retrieve partial information about it. This partial retrieval, even without complete reconstruction, is the core vulnerability they aim to neutralize. The work acknowledges earlier investigations into communication-efficient QTS, that reducing the quantum information transmitted during secret recovery is paramount. Earlier work introduced communication-efficient quantum threshold secret sharing (CE-QTS), and this work extends that foundation.

The team leveraged extended CSS codes to construct their CE-QTS schemes, deriving bounds on the communication cost during secret reconstruction. This proactive approach to identifying and mitigating information leakage represents a significant step forward in securing quantum communications against increasingly sophisticated threats. 👉 More information🗞 Construction of a Class of Communication-Efficient Quantum Secret Sharing Schemes✍️ Chenhao Li, Zhihui Li, Jiansheng Guo, Yixin Chen and Yewei Wang🧠 ArXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.19891 Stay currentSee today’s quantum computing news on Quantum Zeitgeist for the latest breakthroughs in qubits, hardware, algorithms, and industry deals. Tags: