A QKD network can be considered an add-on technology to a standard communication network that provides IT-secure cryptographic keys as a service. As a result, security challenges resulting in the suspension of functional work must be addressed. This study analyzes a Denial of Service (DoS) attack on the Key Management System (KMS), one of the critical components of the QKD network in charge of key management and key provisioning to authorized consumers. Through simulation methods performed in the QKDNetSim, we show that legitimate customers experience significantly worse service during an excessive DoS attack on KMS.

New generation networks are facing ever greater demands. When testing new network devices that must process packets at extremely high rates, it is essential to test their functionality and desired performance under maximum traffic load. As a result, in order to test the hardware, a traffic generator is required. This paper proposes an affordable and extensible high-speed FPGA-based Ethernet traffic generator. The proposed solution is able of fully utilizing a 40GbE link, with the possibility of manipulating traffic characteristics at the level of an individual packet. Although intended to run on the DE10-Pro system, the proposed design is portable to other FPGA boards with minimal development effort and changes.

A QKD network provides an additional security layer for IT-secure cryptographic key distribution that is added to existing conventional networks. Thus, QKD network components must be resilient to security challenges from conventional network environments. This paper provided a novel solution for designing a Key Management System resistant to DoS attacks. Our solution allows applications to function securely in environments with fewer keys. In addition, we have provided approaches for allocating and managing QKD resources to avoid malicious key reservations. Simulation experiments verified the proposed solutions.

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an approach for establishing symmetrical binary keys between distant users in an information-theoretically secure way. In this paper we provide an overview of existing solutions that integrate QKD within the most popular architecture for establishing secure communications in modern IP (Internet Protocol) networks - IPsec (Internet Protocol security). The provided overview can be used to further design the integration of QKD within the IPsec architecture striving for a standardized solution.

The OPENQKD project is demonstrating deployed QKD networks in several European cities. We present a virtual QKD testbed that allows the user to monitor live data but also to re-enact the past QKD exchange over the various links, together with a QKD network simulation tool.

The convergence of quantum cryptography with applications used in everyday life is a topic drawing attention from the industrial and academic worlds. The development of quantum electronics has led to the practical achievement of quantum devices that are already available on the market and waiting for their first application on a broader scale. A major aspect of quantum cryptography is the methodology of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), which is used to generate and distribute symmetric cryptographic keys between two geographically separate users using the principles of quantum physics. In previous years, several successful QKD networks have been created to test the implementation and interoperability of different practical solutions. This article surveys previously applied methods, showing techniques for deploying QKD networks and current challenges of QKD networking. Unlike studies focusing on optical channels and optical equipment, this survey focuses on the network aspect by considering network organization, routing and signaling protocols, simulation techniques, and a software-defined QKD networking approach.

In the modern telecommunication systems, mobility is one of the key advantage of wireless communications, given that it is possible to transmit/receive data, without caring of having a static position into the network. Of course, mobility poses special issues such as degradations, channel quality fluctuations, fast topology changes, and so on. Modern researches focus their attention on predicting mobile future node positions, in order to a-priori know, for example, what the evolution of the network topology will be or which level of stability each node will reach. Each prediction scheme is based on the storage and analysis of several historical mobility trajectories, in order to train the proper prediction algorithm. In this paper, we focus our attention on the optimization of the space needed to store historical mobility samples, encoding their values and evaluating the conversion error, comparing different encoding functions. Several simulation campaigns have been carried out in order to evaluate the goodness and feasibility of our proposal.

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocols allow the establishment of symmetric cryptographic keys up to a limited distance at limited rates. Due to optical misalignment, noise in quantum detectors, disturbance of the quantum channel or eavesdropping, an error key reconciliation technique is required to eliminate errors. This chapter analyses different key reconciliation techniques with a focus on communication and computing performance. We also briefly describe a new approach to key reconciliation techniques based on artificial neural networks.

The vision of the smart-city environment is based on a large number of sensors, actuators, devices connected to the Internet. As interest in the practical implementation of the smart city environment increases, so does the interest in examining network connectivity which can be useful for investigating security vulnerabilities, identifying or blocking traffic accessibility (when needed), and other. In this paper, we analyze the network connectivity of smart-home Xiaomi solutions based on measurements made over 30 days. We analyze the installation phase, the usage phase, and identify key Xiaomi network nodes using geolocation techniques.

The success of fundamental network tasks of traffic delivery from a source to a destination node is mainly dependent on the efficiency of the routing protocol. In mobile ad hoc networks, the effectiveness of routing protocols is additionally demanding due to the dynamic nature of network nodes. In this paper, we dealt with the exploitation of the routes generated using DSDV bellman-ford routing protocol. Through a total of 3960 network simulations with different topologies, network loads and mobility nodes, various parameters of the DSDV were considered. Our results show that there are a large number of unused routes, and techniques for improving the efficiency of routing and reducing routing overhead can be implemented.