arXiv · 1402.2709
A directional coupler attack against the Kish key distribution system
Abstract
The Kish key distribution system has been proposed as a class ical alternative to quantum key distribution. The idealized Kish scheme elegantly promise s secure key distribution by exploiting thermal noise in a transmission line. However, we demonstrate that it is vulnerable to nonidealities in its components, such as the finite resistance of the transmission line connecting its endpoints. We introduce a novel attack against this nonideality using directional wave measurements, and experimentally demonstrate its efficacy. Our attack is based on causality: in a spatially distributed system, propagation is needed for thermodynamic equilibration, and that leaks information.
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Lachlan J. Gunn, Andrew Allison, Derek Abbott. 2014-02-12. A directional coupler attack against the Kish key distribution system. https://arxiv.org/abs/1402.2709
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