Security Analysis of an Untrusted Source for Quantum Key Distribution: Passive Approach

Abstract

We present a passive approach to the security analysis of quantum key distribution (QKD) with an untrusted source. A complete proof of its unconditional security is also presented. This scheme has significant advantages in real-life implementations as it does not require fast optical switching or a quantum random number generator. The essential idea is to use a beam splitter to split each input pulse. We show that we can characterize the source using a cross-estimate technique without active routing of each pulse. We have derived analytical expressions for the passive estimation scheme. Moreover, using simulations, we have considered four real-life imperfections: Additional loss introduced by the "plug & play" structure, inefficiency of the intensity monitor, noise of the intensity monitor, and statistical fluctuation introduced by finite data size. Our simulation results show that the passive estimate of an untrusted source remains useful in practice, despite these four imperfections. Also, we have performed preliminary experiments, confirming the utility of our proposal in real-life applications. Our proposal makes it possible to implement the "plug & play" QKD with the security guaranteed, while keeping the implementation practical.

35 pages, 19 figures. Published Version

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• Passive faraday mirror attack in practical two-way quantum key distribution system
• Experimental plug&play quantum coin flipping
• Finite-key security analysis of quantum key distribution with imperfect light sources
• Proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of twin-field quantum key distribution over optical channels with asymmetric losses
• Measurement-device-independent quantum communication with an untrusted source
• Securing practical quantum communication systems with optical power limiters
• Simple source device-independent continuous-variable quantum random number generator
• Experiment on scalable multi-user twin-field quantum key distribution network
• Finite-key-size effect in commercial plug-and-play QKD system
• Passive scheme with a photon-number-resolving detector for monitoring the untrusted source in a plug-and-play quantum-key-distribution system
• Passive-scheme analysis for solving untrusted source problem in quantum key distribution
• Loophole-free plug-and-play quantum key distribution
• Entropic uncertainty relations and the measurement range problem, with consequences for high-dimensional quantum key distribution
• Light Source Monitoring in Quantum Key Distribution with Single Photon Detector at Room Temperature