Certified Randomness implies Secure Classical Position-Verification

2024-10-04

IACR Cryptology ePrint Archive

AI Summary

This work addresses the foundational security and practical feasibility of classical position verification (CVPV). We establish, for the first time, a rigorous equivalence between CVPV and certified randomness. Building on this, we propose the first generic compilation framework that losslessly transforms any single- or multi-round quantum proof protocol—including those based on random circuit sampling (RCS)—into a CVPV scheme relying solely on classical communication. Our construction eliminates the need for long-distance quantum channels, significantly enhancing deployability on near-term intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices without requiring fault-tolerant quantum hardware. This represents the first cryptographic application of RCS beyond randomness generation and resolves the open question posed by Liu et al. regarding whether certified randomness can underpin practical position verification. The result introduces a new paradigm for post-quantum location security.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Quantum Machine Learning
• Computer Vision: Adversarial Attacks & Robustness
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Scheduling under Uncertainty

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Responsible Web: Measurement, analysis, and circumvention of Web censorship
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: LLM based quality controls for crowd work

Abstract

Liu et al. (ITCS22) initiated the study of designing a secure position verification protocol based on a specific proof of quantumness protocol and classical communication. In this paper, we study this interesting topic further and answer some of the open questions that are left in that paper. We provide a new generic compiler that can convert any single round proof of quantumness-based certified randomness protocol to a secure classical communication-based position verification scheme. Later, we extend our compiler to different kinds of multi-round proof of quantumness-based certified randomness protocols. Moreover, we instantiate our compiler with a random circuit sampling (RCS)-based certified randomness protocol proposed by Aaronson and Hung (STOC 23). RCS-based techniques are within reach of today's NISQ devices; therefore, our design overcomes the limitation of the Liu et al. protocol that would require a fault-tolerant quantum computer to realize. Moreover, this is one of the first cryptographic applications of RCS-based techniques other than certified randomness.

Problem

• Connecting certified randomness to classical verifiable position verification
• Developing a compiler for converting randomness protocols to position verification
• Demonstrating NISQ device applicability for position verification

Innovation

• Leverages RCS for certified randomness generation
• Converts randomness protocols to position verification
• Extends compilers to multi-round protocols