| Open Access SQOUT
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Injection-Locking Attack (ILA)
The Injection-Locking Attack (ILA) on quantum key distribution systems involves the threat actor (Eve) injecting a strong laser beam into the transmitter's (Alice's) laser source. This forced synchronization makes Alice's laser resonate at Eve's designed frequency, subtly altering the emitted pulses' frequency based on their polarization states. This manipulation enables Eve to infer the polarization used by Alice, laying the groundwork for direct key extraction or facilitating subsequent photon number splitting (PNS) attacks.
Literature
| [Pang2020] | X. Pang, A. Yang, C. Zhang, J. Dou, H. Li, J. Gao, and X. Jin. "Hacking Quantum Key Distribution via Injection Locking" In: Phys. Rev. Appl. 13, 034008. (2020) 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.034008. |
| [Zhang2022] | X. Zhang, M. Jiang, Y. Wang, Y. Lu, H. Li, C. Zhou, Y. Zhou, and W. Bao. "Analysis of an injection-locking-loophole attack from an external source for quantum key distribution" In: Phys. Rev. A 106, 062412. (2022) 10.1103/PhysRevA.106.062412. |
Technique → Countermeasures
List of countermeasures applicable to this technique.
Items: 4
| Description | Countermeasure |
|---|---|
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Employment of optical isolation. |
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Employment of watchdog monitoring. |
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Monitoring of the source's repetition period. |
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Monitoring of implemented countermeasures. |