Abstract

Practical implementations of quantum key distribution (QKD) have been shown to be subject to various detector side-channel attacks that compromise the promised unconditional security. Most notable is a general class of attacks adopting the use of faked-state photons as in the detector-control and, more broadly, the intercept-resend attacks. In this paper, we present a simple scheme to overcome such class of attacks: A legitimate user, Bob, uses a polarization randomizer at his gateway to distort an ancillary polarization of a phase-encoded photon in a bidirectional QKD configuration. Passing through the randomizer once on the way to his partner, Alice, and again in the opposite direction, the polarization qubit of the genuine photon is immune to randomization. However, the polarization state of a photon from an intruder, Eve, to Bob is randomized and hence directed to a detector in a different path, whereupon it triggers an alert. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that, using commercial off-the-shelf detectors, it can be made impossible for Eve to avoid triggering the alert, no matter what faked-state of light she uses.

Hacking single-photon avalanche detectors in quantum key distribution via pulse illumination

Zhihao Wu, Anqi Huang, Huan Chen, Shi-Hai Sun, Jiangfang Ding, Xiaogang Qiang, Xiang Fu, Ping Xu, and Junjie Wu
Opt. Express 28(17) 25574-25590 (2020)

Hacking measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

Feng-Yu Lu, Peng Ye, Ze-Hao Wang, Shuang Wang, Zhen-Qiang Yin, Rong Wang, Xiao-Juan Huang, Wei Chen, De-Yong He, Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan, Guang-Can Guo, and Zheng-Fu Han
Optica 10(4) 520-527 (2023)

Quantum hacking on a free-space quantum key distribution system without measuring quantum signals

Min Soo Lee, Min Ki Woo, Yong-Su Kim, Young-Wook Cho, Sang-Wook Han, and Sung Moon
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 36(3) B77-B82 (2019)

Robust countermeasure against detector control attack in a practical quantum key distribution system

Yong-Jun Qian, De-Yong He, Shuang Wang, Wei Chen, Zhen-Qiang Yin, Guang-Can Guo, and Zheng-Fu Han
Optica 6(9) 1178-1184 (2019)

Optimised quantum hacking of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Michael G. Tanner, Vadim Makarov, and Robert H. Hadfield
Opt. Express 22(6) 6734-6748 (2014)