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International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations

Security and performance analysis of the Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise secure key exchange protocol

Róbert Mingesz, Zoltán Gingl, Gergely Vadai

Published Jun 1, 2015• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-(like)-Noise (KLJN) key exchange system is a promising low-cost alternative to the quantum key distribution and is based solely on the laws of classical physics. Although several papers have been published in the field, there is still an ongoing debate about the security of the method. In our paper we will give an overview the most important findings about the security of the KLJN system and show the effects of the non-idealities of the system on the information leak. We will also analyze different methods of proposed cracking the KLJN protocol, including the latest directional coupler attack.

DOI
10.1109/icnf.2015.7288554

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The Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-(like)-Noise (KLJN) key exchange system is a promising low-cost alternative to the quantum key distribution and is based solely on the laws of classical physics. Although several papers have been published in the field, there is still an ongoing debate about the security of the method. In our paper we will give an overview the most important findings about the security of the KLJN system and show the effects of the non-idealities of the system on the information leak. We will also analyze different methods of proposed cracking the KLJN protocol, including the latest directional coupler attack.
The Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) key exchange protocol had been introduced as an ultra-low cost alternative of quantum cryptography. Two years ago we have developed a generalized version of the KLJN key exchanger (VGM-KLJN), and we have proved that the system works perfectly secure under much more general conditions that allows compensation of many kinds of imperfections. In this work we focus on the experimental analysis of our recently introduced VGM-KLJN system. We determine the time required to transfer a bit, the error rate of the information transfer and we also evaluate the probability of successful eavesdropping in the case of different imperfections of the components. We demonstrate a method of real-time identification and compensation of these imperfections. The results of our analysis can greatly aid practical applications and at the same time can serve as a guide to design a system with the required security level.
The Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) secure key distribution system provides a way of exchanging information theoretic secure keys by measuring the random voltage and current through the wire connecting two different resistors at Alice's and Bob's ends. Recently new advanced protocols for the KLJN method have been proposed with enhanced performance. In this paper we analyze the KLJN system and compare with “intelligent” KLJN (iKLJN) scheme. This task requires the determination of the applied resistors and the identification of the various superpositions of known and unknown noise components. Some statistical tools to determine how the duration of the bit exchange window (averaging time) influences the performance of secure bit exchange will be explored.
The Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) secure key exchange system has been introduced as a simple, very low cost and efficient classical physical alternative to quantum key distribution systems. The ideal system uses only a few electronic components-identical resistor pairs, switches and interconnecting wires-in order to guarantee perfectly protected data transmission. We show that a generalized KLJN system can provide unconditional security even if it is used with significantly less limitations. The more universal conditions ease practical realizations considerably and support more robust protection against attacks. Our theoretical results are confirmed by numerical simulations.
The Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) secure key distribution system provides a way of exchanging secure keys by using classical physics (electricity and thermodynamics). Several theoretical studies have addressed the performance and applicability of the communication protocol, and they have indicated that it is protected against all known types of attacks. However, until now, there have been very few real physical implementations and experimental tests of the protocol. With our work, we continue filling this gap. Details of implementing a KLJN based system are presented using a dedicated hardware and an off-the-shelf solution as well. Furthermore, the results of experimental tests and analysis of the performance will be presented.
The Kirchhoff-law–Johnson-noise (KLJN) secure key distribution system provides a way of exchanging theoretically secure keys by measuring random voltage and current through the wire connecting two different resistors at Alice's and Bob's ends. Recently new advanced protocols for the KLJN method have been proposed with enhanced performance. In this paper, we analyze the KLJN system and compare with the "intelligent" KLJN (iKLJN) scheme. That task requires determination of the applied resistors and identification of various superpositions of known and unknown noise components. Some statistical tools will be explored to determine how the duration of the bit exchange window (averaging time) influences the performance of the secure bit exchange.
Abstract There is an ongoing debate about the fundamental security of existing quantum key exchange schemes. This debate indicates not only that there is a problem with security but also that the meanings of perfect, imperfect, conditional and unconditional (information theoretic) security in physically secure key exchange schemes are often misunderstood. It has been shown recently that the use of two pairs of resistors with enhanced Johnsonnoise and a Kirchhoff-loop ‒ i.e., a Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (KLJN) protocol ‒ for secure key distribution leads to information theoretic security levels superior to those of today’s quantum key distribution. This issue is becoming particularly timely because of the recent full cracks of practical quantum communicators, as shown in numerous peer-reviewed publications. The KLJN system is briefly surveyed here with discussions about the essential questions such as (i) perfect and imperfect security characteristics of the key distribution, and (ii) how these two types of securities can be unconditional (or information theoretical).