The security and recent technology of quantum key distribution

Abstract

In principle, quantum key distribution (QKD) can be used to make unconditionally secure private communication. However, the security of the existing real system for QKD needs to be carefully examined. Actually, the existing experiments based on weak coherent states are not secure under photon-number-splitting attack. Fortunately, the decoy-state method and the entanglement-distribution method can be used to realize the unconditionally secure QKD based on real-life systems with existing technology.

Keywords

QKD, security, BB84 method, decoy-state method, photon-number-splitting attack