In Secure message transmission (SMT) protocols two nodes in a network want to communicate securely, given that some of the nodes in the network are corrupted by an adversary with unlimited computational power. An SMT protocol uses multiple paths between the sender and a receiver to guarantee privacy and reliability of the message transmission. An (e, δ)-SMT protocol bounds the adversary's success probability of breaking privacy and reliability to e and δ, respectively. Rate optimal SMT protocols have the smallest transmission rate (amount of communication per one bit of message). Rate optimal protocols have been constructed for a restricted set of parameters.In this paper we use wire virtualization method to construct new optimal protocols for a wide range of parameters using previously known optimal protocols. In particular, we design, for the first time, an optimal 1-round (0, δ)-SMT protocol for n = (2 + c)t, c ≥ 1/t, where n is the number of paths between the sender and the receiver, up to t of which are controlled by the adversary. We also design an optimal 2-round (0, 0)-SMT protocol for n = (2 + c)t, c ≥ 1/t, with communication cost better than the known protocols. The wire virtualization method can be used to construct other protocols with provable properties from component protocols.

In a secure message transmission (SMT) scenario, a sender wants to send a message in a private and reliable way to a receiver. Sender and receiver are connected by n wires, t of which can be controlled by an adaptive adversary with unlimited computational resources. In Eurocrypt 2008, Garay and Ostrovsky considered an SMT scenario where sender and receiver have access to a public discussion channel and showed that secure and reliable communication is possible when n ≥ t + 1. In this paper, we will show that a secure protocol requires at least three rounds of communication and two rounds invocation of the public channel and hence give a complete answer to the open question raised by Garay and Ostrovsky. We also describe a round optimal protocol that has constant transmission rate over the public channel.

Secure message transmission assumes n channels between a sender and a receiver such that up to t channels are under the control of a computationally unlimited adversary. In secure message transmission by public discussion protocol, sender and receiver have access to a public authenticated channel. In this paper we show that if n ¿ t + 1, a secure protocol requires at least 3 rounds of communication and 2 rounds invocation of the public channel. This gives a complete answer to a question raised by Garay and Ostrovsky in Eurocrypt 2008. We also describe a round optimal protocol that has constant transmission rate over the public channel.