Hacking the quantum key distribution system by exploiting the avalanche transition region of single photon detectors

Avalanche photodiode based single photon detectors, as crucial and practical components, are widely used in quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. For effective detection, most of these SPDs are operated in the gated mode, in which the gate is added to obtain high avalanche gain, and is removed to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2019-09
Main Authors: Yong-Jun, Qian, De-Yong, He, Wang, Shuang, Chen, Wei, Zhen-Qiang Yin, Guo, Guang-Can, Zheng-Fu, Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Avalanche diodes
Bit error rate
Detectors
Photodiodes
Photoelectric effect
Photoelectric emission
Photon avalanches
Quantum cryptography
Qubits (quantum computing)
System effectiveness
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Summary:Avalanche photodiode based single photon detectors, as crucial and practical components, are widely used in quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. For effective detection, most of these SPDs are operated in the gated mode, in which the gate is added to obtain high avalanche gain, and is removed to quench the avalanche. The avalanche transition region (ATR) is a certain existence in the process of adding and removing the gate. We first experimentally investigate the characteristic of the ATR, including in the commercial SPD and high-speed SPD, and then propose an ATR attack to control the detector. In the experiment of hacking the plug-and-play QKD system, Eve only introduces less than 0.5 % quantum bit error rate, and almost leaves no traces of her presence including the photocurrent and afterpulse probability. We finally give possible countermeasures against this attack.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1909.10001