Method for detecting blinding attacks on photodetectors in a quantum cryptography system

Abstract

A method of identifying occurrence of a blinding attack in a quantum cryptography system, and a receiver for a quantum cryptography. The method comprises the steps of providing a light emitter at a receiver of the quantum cryptography system, wherein at least a portion of light emitted from the light emitter is detectable by a single photon detector of the receiver; switching the light emitter off during a normal operation mode of the single photon detector; measuring a first number of detection events registered in the single photon detector in a first time period, T1, with the light emitter switched on; and identifying the occurrence of the blinding attack based on the first number of detection invents.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.