Eavesdropping on the two-way quantum communication protocols with invisible photons. (English) Zbl 1234.68031

Cai, Qing-Yu

Phys. Lett., A 351, No. 1-2, 23-25 (2006).

Summary: The crucial issue of quantum communication protocol is its security. In this Letter, we show that all the deterministic and direct two-way quantum communication protocols, sometimes called ping-pong (PP) protocols, are insecure when an eavesdropper uses the invisible photon to eavesdrop on the communication. With our invisible photon eavesdropping (IPE) scheme, the eavesdropper can obtain full information of the communication with zero risk of being detected. We show that this IPE scheme can be implemented experimentally with current technology. Finally, a possible improvement of PP communication protocols security is proposed.

MSC:

68M12	Network protocols
68Q12	Quantum algorithms and complexity in the theory of computing

References:

[1]	Gisin, N.; Ribordy, G.; Tittel, W.; Zbinden, H., Rev. mod. phys., 74, 145, (2002)
[2]	Bennett, C.H.; Brassard, G., (), 175
[3]	Ekert, A.K.; Curty, M.; Lewenstein, M.; Lütkenhaus, N.; Lo, H.-K.; Chau, H.F.; Mayer, D.; Shor, P.W.; Preskill, J., Phys. rev. lett., Phys. rev. lett., Science, J. assoc. comput. Mach., Phys. rev. lett., 85, 441, (2000)
[4]	For a review, see Ref. [1]
[5]	Brassard, G.; Lütkenhaus, N.; Mor, T.; Sanders, B.C., Phys. rev. lett., 85, 1330, (2000)
[6]	Boström, K.; Felbinger, T., Phys. rev. lett., 89, 187902, (2002)
[7]	Wójcik, A.; Cai, Q.-Y., Phys. rev. lett., Phys. rev. lett., 91, 109801, (2003)
[8]	Cai, Q.-Y.; Li, B.-W.; An, N.B., Phys. rev. A, Phys. lett. A, 328, 6, (2004)
[9]	Degiovanni, I.P.; Wójcik, A., Phys. rev. A, Phys. rev. A, 71, 016301, (2005)
[10]	Cai, Q.-Y.; Li, B.-W.; Lü, H.; Yan, X.-D.; Zhang, X.-Z., Chin. phys. lett., Chin. phys. lett., 21, 2340, (2004)
[11]	Lucamarini, M.; Mancini, S., Phys. rev. lett., 94, 140501, (2005)
[12]	Deng, F.-G.; Long, G.L.; Hoffmann, H.; Boström, K.; Felbinger, T.; Deng, F.-G.; Long, G.L., Phys. rev. A, Phys. rev. A, Phys. rev. A, 70, 012311, (2004)
[13]	Komiyama, S.; Astafiev, O.; Antonov, V.V.; Kutsuwa, T.; Hirai, H., Nature, 403, 405, (2000)
[14]	Gisin, N.; Fasel, S.; Kraus, B.; Zbinden, H.; Ribordy, G.
[15]	M.S. Kim, private communication
[16]	Kye, W.-K.; Kim, C.-M.; Kim, M.S.; Park, Y.-J., Phys. rev. lett., 95, 040501, (2005)
[17]	Q.-Y. Cai, Eavesdropping on the “quantum key distribution with blind polarization bases” using sophisticated photon-number-splitting attack, in preparation