Physical-Layer Security, Quantum Key Distribution, and Post-Quantum...

Description

Physical-Layer Security, Quantum Key Distribution, and Post-Quantum Cryptography.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the latest developments in secure communications by bringing together several of the most important technologies shaping the future of cybersecurity. Rather than treating physical-layer security, cryptography, covert communications, quantum key distribution (QKD), and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as isolated fields, it presents a unified perspective that demonstrates how these complementary disciplines can work together to protect modern communication systems against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

Beginning with the fundamentals of secure communication, the book gradually explores advanced concepts in physical-layer security (PLS), showing how the characteristics of communication channels themselves can be used to strengthen confidentiality and defend against eavesdropping. Readers gain insight into how information can be protected beyond traditional encryption techniques, providing an additional layer of security for both wired and wireless communication networks.

The text then examines modern cryptographic methods alongside emerging technologies such as quantum key distribution (QKD), often referred to as quantum cryptography. It explains how the principles of quantum mechanics enable the secure exchange of encryption keys while making unauthorized interception detectable. The book also discusses the growing importance of post-quantum cryptography (PQC), presenting cryptographic algorithms specifically designed to remain secure against future quantum computers capable of breaking many of today’s widely deployed encryption standards.

Another major focus is covert and stealth communications, where the objective extends beyond protecting the contents of transmitted data to concealing the very existence of the communication itself. The authors explore the principles, techniques, and practical applications of low-probability-of-detection and low-probability-of-interception systems that are becoming increasingly valuable in military, governmental, industrial, and critical infrastructure environments.

By integrating these technologies within a single framework, the book highlights how physical-layer security, quantum technologies, modern encryption, covert communication, and cybersecurity collectively address the evolving challenges facing digital communications. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of secure network architectures, information-theoretic security, communication protocols, authentication mechanisms, key management, and resilient system design capable of defending against both conventional and emerging cyber threats.

Combining theoretical foundations with practical perspectives, the book serves as both an educational resource and a technical reference for those seeking to understand the next generation of secure communication technologies. It emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of modern cybersecurity by connecting concepts from communication theory, information theory, mathematics, physics, photonics, and computer science into a coherent and accessible presentation.

Ideal for graduate students, researchers, engineers, cybersecurity professionals, and academics, this book is particularly valuable for readers working in communications engineering, wireless and optical communications, free-space optical systems, optical wireless networks, quantum technologies, cryptography, information security, and related fields. It offers a comprehensive roadmap for understanding how today’s most advanced security technologies can be combined to build robust, resilient, and future-proof communication systems in the age of quantum computing and increasingly complex cyber threats.