A post-quantum secure communication system for cloud manufacturing safety

Pavithra Parthasarathi, Nivedha S., S. V. Krishnamoorthy +1 more

Sudhanshu Maurya, Shreyas Kasture, Amit Shukla

This paper proposes a unique paradigm for strengthening secure communications in industrial mechatronics and embedded systems by seamlessly combining post-quantum and quantum cryptography. Implementing quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols, notably BB84 and E91, which allow parties to generate securely shared keys over untrusted quantum channels, forms the system's foundation. A thorough analysis of these QKD algorithms reveals they can offer guaranteed eavesdropping detection and unconditional forward secrecy, two features necessary for building secure, solid communications. The paper incorporates advanced post-quantum cryptographic techniques developed during the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography competition to address the imminent threat of widespread quantum computing capabilities. These include the lattice-based CRYSTALS-Kyber and hash-based SPHINCS+ algorithm. The framework utilizes an advanced hybrid technique that provides a robust compound security solution by deriving subordinate keys for the post-quantum cryptographic primitives from the QKD-established root keys. Moreover, the study suggests an automated key management system that effectively manages the essential lifecycle, including creation, distribution, revocation, and rotation, while guaranteeing adherence to current industrial security requirements, including IEC 62443. The speed of crucial cryptographic processes, such as key exchange, encryption, decryption, signature, and verification for the quantum and post-quantum components, is measured by performance assessment. It weighs trade-offs versus established techniques like an elliptic curve and RSA cryptography. Through enhancing the security and resilience of critical industrial infrastructure, such as manufacturing facilities and power grids, this study lowers the chances of system failures or malicious assaults, improves public safety, and prevents disruptions.

Weiqi Wang, Tan Soo Fun

Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication is a critical enabler of autonomous driving, supporting real-time information exchange among vehicles, roadside infrastructure, pedestrians, and cloud services. However, the security of current V2X systems largely relies on classical cryptographic mechanisms, which are expected to become vulnerable in the presence of large-scale quantum computers. Given the long operational lifespan and stringent safety requirements of autonomous vehicular networks, the transition toward quantum-resistant authentication and key management mechanisms has become increasingly important. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of post-quantum Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocols for secure V2X communications. The survey systematically reviews V2X communication architectures, security and privacy requirements, existing authentication frameworks, and emerging post-quantum cryptographic approaches. Representative AKA schemes and NIST-standardized post-quantum algorithms are comparatively analyzed in terms of security strength, computational complexity, communication overhead, storage requirements, scalability, and deployment suitability for resource-constrained vehicular environments. The survey further examines practical implementation challenges, including latency constraints, bandwidth limitations, signature size expansion, memory consumption, and hardware resource requirements. The analysis reveals that achieving quantum-resistant security in V2X networks requires balancing strong cryptographic protection with the stringent performance demands of safety-critical vehicular applications. While recent post-quantum approaches offer promising security guarantees against quantum adversaries, their practical deployment remains constrained by computational and communication overhead. Finally, this survey identifies key research gaps and outlines future directions for the development of lightweight, scalable, and quantum-resilient AKA frameworks capable of supporting next-generation autonomous transportation systems. The findings provide researchers and practitioners with a structured understanding of the opportunities, limitations, and challenges associated with securing future V2X communications in the quantum era.

Wenchao Dai, Yuan Lü, Jun Ping Zhu +1 more

Muhammad Nauman Khan, Asha Rao, Seyit Ahmet Camtepe +1 more

The recent expansion of the Internet of things (IoT) and its applications continues to dramatically change the IT services supporting manufacturing, energy management, intelligent transportation, smart cities, etc. These IT services often interconnect Internet-based Cloud systems with IoT or intelligent smart devices held by organisations. As IoT devices are resource-limited, the security of their communication is provided by lightweight cryptography that could consequently lead to the devices being insecure against a quantum adversary. On the other hand, Internet Cloud systems are resource-rich and could easily support post-quantum cryptography. This paper presents a proxy re-encryption scheme that translates ciphertexts of a classical lightweight encryption algorithm into their post quantum equivalent and vice versa. More precisely, we propose a lattice-based ABE-IBE (L ABE-IBE) proxy re-encryption scheme that transforms a classical lightweight ciphertext into a lattice based ciphertext. We compare our proposed L ABE-IBE proxy re-encryption scheme with classical proxy re-encryption (ABEIBE) schemes. We discuss the security and efficiency of our construction.

Ramani Kasarapu, B. Venkata Sivaiah, Rohith Enjety +3 more