Related papers: Experimental demonstration of counterfactual quant…
Counterfactual quantum key distribution (QKD) enables two parties to share a secret key using an interaction-free measurement. Here, we point out that the efficiency of counterfactual QKD protocols can be enhanced by including…
Based on principle of quantum mechanics, quantum cryptography provides an intriguing way to establish secret keys between remote parties, generally relying on actual transmission of signal particles. Surprisingly, an even more striking…
To protect practical quantum key distribution (QKD) against photon-number-splitting attacks, one could measure the coherence of the received signals. One prominent example that follows this approach is coherent-one-way (COW) QKD, which is…
Counterfactual quantum key distribution protocols allow two sides to establish a common secret key using an insecure channel and authenticated public communication. As opposed to many other quantum key distribution protocols, part of the…
Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables secure key sharing between distant parties, with several protocols proven resilient against conventional eavesdropping strategies. Here, we introduce a new attack scenario where an eavesdropper, Eve,…
We demonstrate a practical countermeasure against a well-known class of attacks on quantum key distribution (QKD) systems that exploit detection efficiency mismatch, where the receiver's detectors do not exhibit identical responses to…
Quantum key distribution can be performed with practical signal sources such as weak coherent pulses. One example of such a scheme is the Bennett-Brassard protocol that can be implemented via polarization of the signals, or equivalent…
Quantum cryptography allows one to distribute a secret key between two remote parties using the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. The well-known established paradigm for the quantum key distribution relies on the actual…
Quantum key distribution can provide unconditionally secure key exchange for remote users in theory. In practice, however, in most quantum key distribution systems, quantum hackers might steal the secure keys by listening to the side…
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a scheme to render the detection apparatus of a Quantum Key Distribution system immune to the main classes of hacking attacks in which the eavesdropper explores the back-door opened by the…
Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides information-theoretic security grounded in the fundamental laws of physics. Nevertheless, practical imperfections can introduce side channels that expose QKD systems to quantum hacking, especially…
Standard quantum key distribution protocols are provably secure against eavesdropping attacks, if quantum theory is correct. It is theoretically interesting to know if we need to assume the validity of quantum theory to prove the security…
Continuous-variable quantum key distribution provides a theoretical unconditionally secure solution to distribute symmetric keys among users in a communication network. However, the practical devices used to implement these systems are…
This paper presents a multi-stage, multi-photon quantum key distribution protocol based on the double-lock cryptography. It exploits the asymmetry in the detection strategies between the legitimate users and the eavesdropper. The security…
We present a complete protocol for BB84 quantum key distribution for a realistic setting (noise, loss, multi-photon signals of the source) that covers many of todays experimental implementations. The security of this protocol is shown…
Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises information theoretic secure key as long as the device performs as assumed in the theoretical model. One of the assumptions is an absence of information leakage about individual photon detection…
Quantum Key Distribution with the BB84 protocol has been shown to be unconditionally secure even using weak coherent pulses instead of single-photon signals. The distances that can be covered by these methods are limited due to the loss in…
In counterfactual quantum key distribution (QKD), two remote parties can securely share random polarization-encoded bits through the blocking rather than the transmission of particles. We propose a semi-counterfactual QKD, i.e., one where…
The fabrication of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems typically involves several parties, thus providing Eve with multiple opportunities to meddle with the devices. As a consequence, conventional hardware and/or software hacking attacks…
The use of linearly independent signal states in realistic implementations of quantum key distribution (QKD) enables an eavesdropper to perform unambiguous state discrimination. We explore quantitatively the limits for secure QKD imposed by…