title: A directional wave measurement attack against the Kish key distribution system.
abstract: The Kish key distribution system has been proposed as a classical alternative to quantum key distribution. The idealized Kish scheme elegantly promises secure key distribution by exploiting thermal noise in a transmission line. However, we demonstrate that it is vulnerable to nonidealities in its components, such as the finite resistance of the transmission line connecting its endpoints. We introduce a novel attack against this nonideality using directional wave measurements, and experimentally demonstrate its efficacy.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Lachlan J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abbott