Elimination of a Second-Law-attack, and all cable-resistance-based attacks, in the Kirchhoff-law-Johnson-noise (KLJN) secure key exchange system

Abstract

We introduce the so far most efficient attack against the Kirchhoff-law-Johnson-noise (KLJN) secure key exchange system. This attack utilizes the lack of exact thermal equilibrium in practical applications and is based on cable resistance losses and the fact that the Second Law of Thermodynamics cannot provide full security when such losses are present. The new attack does not challenge the unconditional security of the KLJN scheme, but it puts more stringent demands on the security/privacy enhancing protocol than for any earlier attack. In this paper we present a simple defense protocol to fully eliminate this new attack by increasing the noise-temperature at the side of the smaller resistance value over the noise-temperature at the at the side with the greater resistance. It is shown that this simple protocol totally removes Eve's information not only for the new attack but also for the old Bergou-Scheuer-Yariv attack. The presently most efficient attacks against the KLJN scheme are thereby completely nullified.

arXiv commentaccepted for publication in Entropy (open access)

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Generalized Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) secure key exchange system using arbitrary resistors
• Analysis of an attenuator artifact in an experimental attack by Gunn-Allison-Abbott against the Kirchhoff-law-Johnson-noise (KLJN) secure key exchange system
• Resource requirements and speed versus geometry of unconditionally secure physical key exchanges
• Comments on the "Generalized" KLJN Key Exchanger with Arbitrary Resistors: Power, Impedance, Security
• Comments On "A New Transient Attack On The Kish Key Distribution System"
• Cable Capacitance Attack against the KLJN Secure Key Exchange
• Deterministic Random Number Generator Attack against the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise Secure Key Exchange Protocol
• AC Loop Current Attacks Against The KLJN Secure Key Exchange Scheme
• Perspective -- On the thermodynamics of perfect unconditional security
• Kirchhoff Meets Johnson: In Pursuit of Unconditionally Secure Communication