Semiquantum authentication of users resistant to multisession attacks

Abstract

User authentication is an essential element of any communication system. The paper investigates the vulnerability of the recently published first semiquantum identity authentication protocol (Quantum Information Processing 18: 197, 2019) to the introduced herein multisession attacks. The impersonation of the legitimate parties by a proper combination of phishing techniques is demonstrated. The improved version that closes the identified loophole is also introduced.