Frequency-Shift Attack

The Frequency-Shift Attack is a sophisticated strategy where the threat actor (Eve) replaces the receiver's (Bob's) optical pulses with time-shifted ones - in the two-way QKD scheme, aiming to modulate these pulses at the rising edge of the transmitter's (Alice's) phase modulator. This manipulation results in a frequency shift of Alice's signals that correlates with the selected quantum state, enabling Eve to decipher the key by simply analyzing the frequency of the returned signals.


Literature

[Jiang2014] M. Jiang, S. Sun, C. Li, and L. Liang. "Frequency shift attack on plug-and-play quantum key distribution systems" In: Journal of Modern Optics 61, 147. (2014) 10.1080/09500340.2013.872309.

QID: A-0057
Tier: T0
Type: Quantum
Tactic: Execution
Created: 2024-04-04
Updated: 2024-08-12

Technique → Countermeasures

List of countermeasures applicable to this technique.

Items: 4
Description Countermeasure

Use of watchdog monitoring.

State preparation monitoring.

Use of a narrow spectral filter.

Implement this attack to security proof.