Message Authentication over Noisy Channels

The essence of authentication is the transmission of unique and irreproducible information. In this paper, the authentication becomes a problem of the secure transmission of the secret key over noisy channels. A general analysis and design framework for message authentication is presented based on the results of Wyner’s wiretap channel. Impersonation and substitution attacks are primarily investigated. Information-theoretic lower and upper bounds on the opponent’s success probability are derived, and the lower bound and the upper bound are shown to match. In general, the fundamental limits on message authentication over noisy channels are fully characterized. Analysis results demonstrate that introducing noisy channels is a reliable way to enhance the security of authentication.