Preventing the success of active attacks is of essential importance for network coding since even the infiltration of one single corrupted data packet can jam large parts of the network. The existing approaches for network coding schemes preventing such pollution attacks can be divided into two categories: utilize cryptographic approaches or utilize redundancy similar to error correction coding. Within this paper, we compared both paradigms concerning efficiency of data transmission under various circumstances. Particularly, we considered an attacker of a certain strength as well as the influence of the generation size. The results are helpful for selecting a suitable approach for network coding taking into account both security against pollution attacks and efficiency.

For the last ten years, DVD-R media have played an important role in the storage of large amounts of digital data throughout the world. During this time it was assumed that the DVD-R was as long-lasting and stable as its predecessor, the CD-R. Several reports have surfaced over the last few years questioning the DVD-R's ability to maintain many of its claims regarding archival quality life spans. These reports have shown a wide range of longevity between the different brands. While some DVD-Rs may last a while, others may result in an early and unexpected failure. Compounding this problem is the lack of information available for consumers to know the quality of the media they own. While the industry works on devising a standard for labeling the quality of future media, it is currently up to the consumer to pay close attention to their own DVD-R archives and work diligently to prevent data loss. This research shows that through accelerated aging and the use of logistic regression analysis on data collected through periodic monitoring of disc read-back errors it is possible to accurately predict unrecoverable failures in the test discs. This study analyzed various measurements of PIE errors, PIE8 Sum errors, POF errors and jitter data from three areas of the disc: the whole disc, the region of the disc where it first failed as well as the last half of the disc. From this data five unique predictive equations were produced, each with the ability to predict disc failure. In conclusion, the relative value of these equations for end-of-life predictions is discussed.

Dans ce mémoire, nous nous pencherons tout particulièrement sur une primitive cryptographique connue sous le nom de partage de secret. Nous explorerons autant le domaine classique que le domaine quantique de ces primitives, couronnant notre étude par la présentation d’un nouveau protocole de partage de secret quantique nécessitant un nombre minimal de parts quantiques c.-à-d. une seule part quantique par participant. L’ouverture de notre étude se fera par la présentation dans le chapitre préliminaire d’un survol des notions mathématiques sous-jacentes à la théorie de l’information quantique ayant pour but primaire d’établir la notation utilisée dans ce manuscrit, ainsi que la présentation d’un précis des propriétés mathématique de l’état de Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) fréquemment utilisé dans les domaines quantiques de la cryptographie et des jeux de la communication. Mais, comme nous l’avons mentionné plus haut, c’est le domaine cryptographique qui restera le point focal de cette étude. Dans le second chapitre, nous nous intéresserons à la théorie des codes correcteurs d’erreurs classiques et quantiques qui seront à leur tour d’extrême importances lors de l’introduction de la théorie quantique du partage de secret dans le chapitre suivant. Dans la première partie du troisième chapitre, nous nous concentrerons sur le domaine classique du partage de secret en présentant un cadre théorique général portant sur la construction de ces primitives illustrant tout au long les concepts introduits par des exemples présentés pour leurs intérêts autant historiques que pédagogiques. Ceci préparera le chemin pour notre exposé sur la théorie quantique du partage de secret qui sera le focus de la seconde partie de ce même chapitre. Nous présenterons alors les théorèmes et définitions les plus généraux connus à date portant sur la construction de ces primitives en portant un intérêt particulier au partage quantique à seuil. Nous montrerons le lien étroit entre la théorie quantique des codes correcteurs d’erreurs et celle du partage de secret. Ce lien est si étroit que l’on considère les codes correcteurs d’erreurs quantiques étaient de plus proches analogues aux partages de secrets quantiques que ne leur étaient les codes de partage de secrets classiques. Finalement, nous présenterons un de nos trois résultats parus dans A. Broadbent, P.-R. Chouha, A. Tapp (2009); un protocole sécuritaire et minimal de partage de secret quantique a seuil (les deux autres résultats dont nous traiterons pas ici portent sur la complexité de la communication et sur la simulation classique de l’état de GHZ). / In this thesis, we will focus on a cryptographic primitive known as secret sharing. We will explore both the classical and quantum domains of such schemes culminating our study by presenting a new protocol for sharing a quantum secret using the minimal number of possible quantum shares i.e. one single quantum share per participant. We will start our study by presenting in the preliminary chapter, a brief mathematical survey of quantum information theory (QIT) which has for goal primarily to establish the notation used throughout the manuscript as well as presenting a précis of the mathematical properties of the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ)-state, which is used thoroughly in cryptography and in communication games. But as we mentioned above, our main focus will be on cryptography. In chapter two, we will pay a close attention to classical and quantum error corrections codes (QECC) since they will become of extreme importance when we introduce quantum secret sharing schemes in the following chapter. In the first part of chapter three, we will focus on classical secret shearing, presenting a general framework for such a primitive all the while illustrating the abstract concepts with examples presented both for their historical and analytical relevance. This first part (chapters one and two) will pave the way for our exposition of the theory of Quantum Secret Sharing (QSS), which will be the focus of the second part of chapter three. We will present then the most general theorems and definitions known to date for the construction of such primitives putting emphasis on the special case of quantum threshold schemes. We will show how quantum error correction codes are related to QSS schemes and show how this relation leads to a very solid correspondence to the point that QECC’s are closer analogues to QSS schemes than are the classical secret sharing primitives. Finally, we will present one of the three results we have in A. Broadbent, P.-R. Chouha, A. Tapp (2009) in particular, a secure minimal quantum threshold protocol (the other two results deal with communication complexity and the classical simulation of the GHZ-state).