Local oscillator fluctuation opens a loophole for Eve in practical continuous-variable quantum-key-distribution systems

Abstract

We consider the security of practical continuous-variable quantum-key-distribution implementation with the local oscillator (LO) fluctuating in time, which opens a loophole for Eve to intercept the secret key. We show that Eve can simulate this fluctuation to hide her Gaussian collective attack by reducing the intensity of the LO. Numerical simulations demonstrate that if Bob does not monitor the LO intensity and does not scale his measurements with the instantaneous intensity values of LO, the secret key rate will be compromised severely.