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Laser damage helps the eavesdropper in quantum cryptography.

Audun Nystad Bugge1, Sebastien Sauge2, Aina Mardhiyah M Ghazali3

  • 1Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway.

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Damaging laser illumination can create new security loopholes in quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. This attack permanently alters components, rendering even perfect QKD systems completely insecure.

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Area of Science:

  • Quantum Information Science
  • Quantum Cryptography
  • Photonics

Background:

  • Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems offer secure communication channels.
  • Existing QKD security analyses often assume component integrity.
  • Vulnerabilities in QKD hardware can undermine theoretical security guarantees.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and demonstrate a novel class of physical attacks on QKD systems.
  • To investigate the impact of laser-induced damage on QKD detector performance.
  • To assess the feasibility of exploiting component degradation for eavesdropping.

Main Methods:

  • Proposing a new attack vector using damaging laser illumination.
  • Conducting proof-of-principle experiments on avalanche photodiode (APD) detectors.
  • Analyzing changes in detector performance metrics, including dark count rate and photodetection mode.

Main Results:

  • Laser illumination permanently alters APD detector properties.
  • Reduced dark count rates (2-5x) were observed after low-power laser exposure.
  • Higher laser power (∼1.5 W) induced a permanent switch to linear photodetection mode, compromising security.

Conclusions:

  • Laser-induced physical damage presents a significant, previously unaddressed threat to QKD security.
  • Degraded QKD components can transition from secure operation to complete insecurity.
  • Novel countermeasures are needed to protect QKD systems against such physical attacks.