Proof-of-principle experiment of a modified photon-number-splitting attack against quantum key distribution

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.042326· OSTI ID:21544593

Weitao, Liu; Shihai, Sun; Linmei, Liang; Jianmin, Yuan ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073 (China)

Any imperfections in a practical quantum key distribution (QKD) system may be exploited by an eavesdropper to collect information about the key without being discovered. We propose a modified photon-number-splitting attack scheme against QKD systems based on weak laser pulses taking advantage of possible multiphoton pulses. Proof-of-principle experiments are demonstrated. The results show that the eavesdropper can get information about the key generated between the legitimate parties without being detected. Since the equivalent attenuation introduced by the eavesdropper for pulses of different average photon numbers are different, the decoy-state method is effective in fighting against this kind of attack. This has also been proven in our experiments.

• OSTI ID: 21544593
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 83; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATTENUATION
BOSONS
CRYPTOGRAPHY
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
INFORMATION
LASER RADIATION
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MULTI-PHOTON PROCESSES
PHOTONS
PULSES
QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY
QUANTUM INFORMATION
RADIATIONS