Distributed cloud storage is a hot topic for security researchers around the globe pursuing secure data storage and a team in China is now merging quantum physics with mature cryptography and storage techniques to achieve a cost-effective cloud storage solution.
Shamir’s secret sharing, a known method, is a key distribution algorithm. It involves distributing private information to a group so that ‘the secret’ can be revealed only when a majority pools their knowledge. It’s common to combine quantum key distribution (QKD) and Shamir’s secret sharing algorithm for secure storage – at an ‘utmost security level’. But utmost security solutions tend to bring substantial costs, including significant cloud storage space requirements.
An American Institute of Physics team has presented a new method that uses quantum random numbers as encryption keys, disperses the keys via Sharmir’s secret sharing algorithm, applies erasure coding within ciphertext, and securely transmits the data through QKD-protected networks to distributed clouds.
The method not only provides quantum security to the entire system but also offers fault tolerance and efficient storage – and this may help speed the adoption of quantum technologies.
In essence, our solution is quantum-secure and serves as a practical application of the fusion between quantum and cryptography technologies. QKD-generated keys secure both user data uploads to servers and data transmissions to dispersed cloud storage nodes.
Corresponding author Yong Zhao, vice president of QuantumCTek Co. Ltd.
The solution is currently feasible from both technological and engineering perspectives: it meets the requirement for relevant quantum and cryptographic standards to ensure a secure storage solution capable of withstanding the challenges posed by quantum computing.
More details can be found in the research paper ‘Quantum-secure fault-tolerant distributed cloud storage system’.
