Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Quantum Key Distribution-bootstrapped Authentication for Secure Communication of Distributed Energy Resources.

Muneer Alshowkan, Philip G. Evans, Michael R Starke, Duncan Earl, Nicholas A. Peters

Published Oct 7, 2021• 2 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this work, the first quantum key-bootstrapped authentication for smart grid communications on an electric utility fiber network is demonstrated. The developed method was prototyped in a software package to manage and utilize quantum keys from a quantum key distribution (QKD) system to authenticate machine-to-machine communications used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This demonstration showcases the feasibility of using QKD to improve the security of critical infrastructure, including future distributed energy resources (DERs), such as energy storage.

Related papers

Authentication of smart grid communications using quantum key distribution

Muneer Alshowkan, Philip G. Evans, Michael R Starke +2 more

Smart grid solutions enable utilities and customers to better monitor and control energy use via information and communications technology. Information technology is intended to improve the future electric grid's reliability, efficiency, and sustainability by implementing advanced monitoring and control systems. However, leveraging modern communications systems also makes the grid vulnerable to cyberattacks. Here we report the first use of quantum key distribution (QKD) keys in the authentication of smart grid communications. In particular, we make such demonstration on a deployed electric utility fiber network. The developed method was prototyped in a software package to manage and utilize cryptographic keys to authenticate machine-to-machine communications used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This demonstration showcases the feasibility of using QKD to improve the security of critical infrastructure, including future distributed energy resources (DERs), such as energy storage.

arXiv:2110.03516•Scientific Reports•Jul 26, 2022•68 citations

Authentication of Smart Grid by Integrating QKD and Blockchain in SCADA Systems

Shubhani Aggarwal, Georges Kaddoum

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides customers with utilities and smart grid solutions, enabling enhanced monitoring and control of energy management systems. This technology is poised to elevate the reliability, sustainability, and efficiency of future electric grids through the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). However, current Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems lack trusted machine authentication in smart grid communications, leaving the electric grid vulnerable to cyberattacks via sophisticated network technologies such as wireless access points, sensors, routers, and gateways. Therefore, ensuring proper management of data integrity from field sensors is crucial to enhance the reliability of SCADA systems. In this context, the utilization of quantum key distribution (QKD) key pairs is proposed to uphold integrity in smart grid communications. This paper presents a fibre optic blockchain network designed to manage and utilize cryptographic keys, facilitating the authentication of peer-to-peer (P2P) communications in SCADA systems. This demonstration underscores the feasibility of employing QKD and blockchain to further strengthen the integrity and authentication of smart grid communications. Additionally, this paper delves into discussing the performance metrics and overhead expenses of the proposed scheme in comparison with existing state-of-the-art proposals. Simulation results highlight the significant impact of blockchain size on the system setup’s throughput and latency.

IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management•Jul 10, 2024•24 citations

ENHANCING SECURITY AND RESILIENCE IN SMART GRIDS THROUGH QUANTUM KEY DISTRIBUTION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Manpreet Kaur, Shweta Mishra

Smart grids offer many advantages, but they also come with some risks, especially regarding network security and privacy. This study aims to investigate the privacy and security of existing smart grid systems and to give a cross-section of the latest findings in the field of secure data aggregation and authentication for smart grids. The study focuses on addressing the challenges posed by malicious tampering and unauthorized access to metering data by exploring innovative approaches to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data through a process termed "secure aggregate" and that the result of secure aggregations is authenticated in a manner that is both scalable and effective using Quantum Key Distribution. A software prototype has been developed to facilitate machine-to-machine authentication because this cryptographic key can be used and machine connections can be verified. This can contribute to the protection of essential infrastructure, the creation of a continuous threat detection feedback system, and the foundations of this technology are essential conditions for increasing the ability of systems to authenticate users.

International Journal of Technical Research & Science•Jun 25, 2024•0 citations

A Quantum Key Distribution for Securing Smart Grids

Iuon‐Chang Lin, Ko-Yu Lin, Nan-I Wu +1 more

The development of Smart Grids (SGs) is a current trend and an indispensable essential living requirement. Due to economic development and improved quality of life, electricity demand has rapidly increased. However, the power grids in major cities have become outdated, leading to uneven power distribution and frequent power outages. SGs can adjust distribution strategies based on consumers’ real-time electricity demands, which requires continuous transmission of consumer electricity data within the grid. If the privacy and security of these data cannot be ensured, consumers’ habits will be exposed, and unnecessary waste may occur. In this article, we propose a key distribution process based on QKD, enabling entities within the SG to encrypt and authenticate each other’s data, ensuring the security and privacy of communication channels and transmitted data.

Cryptography•Apr 29, 2025•9 citations

Quantum-Enabled Secure and Energy-Efficient Protocols for Smart Grid Communication Systems

Sara Al-Qaraghuli, Sarah Haitham Jameel, Mohammed Nouri Majid +3 more

The development and evolution of the smart grid into complex, cyber-physical energy systems make it essential to secure?communication among the distributed components. The rise of quantum computing has made it even more pressing to develop protocols that?are secure outside the limitations of classical cryptosystems. In this paper, it proposes a quantum-assisting secure communication scheme (QASCP) to?boost the security and energy for smart grid communication systems. The proposed protocol combines quantum key distribution with lightweight entropy-based mutual authentication and dynamic session management. It is designed to defend grid assets such as control centers, smart meters, and distribute energy?resources from sophisticated adversarial models, including quantum-capable threats. The approach consists of system level simulation utilizing a?co-simulation framework customized for quantum smart grid communication. The performance of this scheme was compared?against classical and PQ lattice-based schemes in terms of the authentication latency, energy consumption, entropy preservation, and scalability to handle the load and delay effects, under the assumptions of different loading and delay scenarios. Simulation results show that QASCP is able to reduce the energy consumption and authenticity latency, simultaneously it keeps the high throughput and leaves strong entropy?under attack scenarios. The protocol is also shown to?remain robust with varying quantum bit error rates as well as having a smaller memory footprint on popular network topologies. The results provide evidence for the practical integration of?quantum-secure communication in smart grid architectures. By addressing security and performance simultaneously, the protocol?provides a path to future-proof energy networks which can support dependable operations in a quantum-enhanced environment. This could be future enhance for energy efficiency.

International Journal of Engineering Science and Information Technology•Jul 16, 2025•1 citation

Demonstration of a Quantum Key Distribution Trusted Node on an Electric Utility Fiber Network

Philip G. Evans, Glen Peterson, Tyler Morgan +4 more

We present a trusted node quantum key distribution system deployed at an electric utility. We show the QKD distance limitation can be extended using trusted nodes with realistic utility fiber infrastructure, demonstrating the possibility of quantum technologies in providing information security to electric grid devices.

IEEE Photonics Conference•Sep 1, 2019•8 citations
In this work, the first quantum key-bootstrapped authentication for smart grid communications on an electric utility fiber network is demonstrated. The developed method was prototyped in a software package to manage and utilize quantum keys from a quantum key distribution (QKD) system to authenticate machine-to-machine communications used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This demonstration showcases the feasibility of using QKD to improve the security of critical infrastructure, including future distributed energy resources (DERs), such as energy storage.
Smart grid solutions enable utilities and customers to better monitor and control energy use via information and communications technology. Information technology is intended to improve the future electric grid's reliability, efficiency, and sustainability by implementing advanced monitoring and control systems. However, leveraging modern communications systems also makes the grid vulnerable to cyberattacks. Here we report the first use of quantum key distribution (QKD) keys in the authentication of smart grid communications. In particular, we make such demonstration on a deployed electric utility fiber network. The developed method was prototyped in a software package to manage and utilize cryptographic keys to authenticate machine-to-machine communications used for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). This demonstration showcases the feasibility of using QKD to improve the security of critical infrastructure, including future distributed energy resources (DERs), such as energy storage.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides customers with utilities and smart grid solutions, enabling enhanced monitoring and control of energy management systems. This technology is poised to elevate the reliability, sustainability, and efficiency of future electric grids through the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). However, current Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems lack trusted machine authentication in smart grid communications, leaving the electric grid vulnerable to cyberattacks via sophisticated network technologies such as wireless access points, sensors, routers, and gateways. Therefore, ensuring proper management of data integrity from field sensors is crucial to enhance the reliability of SCADA systems. In this context, the utilization of quantum key distribution (QKD) key pairs is proposed to uphold integrity in smart grid communications. This paper presents a fibre optic blockchain network designed to manage and utilize cryptographic keys, facilitating the authentication of peer-to-peer (P2P) communications in SCADA systems. This demonstration underscores the feasibility of employing QKD and blockchain to further strengthen the integrity and authentication of smart grid communications. Additionally, this paper delves into discussing the performance metrics and overhead expenses of the proposed scheme in comparison with existing state-of-the-art proposals. Simulation results highlight the significant impact of blockchain size on the system setup’s throughput and latency.
Smart grids offer many advantages, but they also come with some risks, especially regarding network security and privacy. This study aims to investigate the privacy and security of existing smart grid systems and to give a cross-section of the latest findings in the field of secure data aggregation and authentication for smart grids. The study focuses on addressing the challenges posed by malicious tampering and unauthorized access to metering data by exploring innovative approaches to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data through a process termed "secure aggregate" and that the result of secure aggregations is authenticated in a manner that is both scalable and effective using Quantum Key Distribution. A software prototype has been developed to facilitate machine-to-machine authentication because this cryptographic key can be used and machine connections can be verified. This can contribute to the protection of essential infrastructure, the creation of a continuous threat detection feedback system, and the foundations of this technology are essential conditions for increasing the ability of systems to authenticate users.
The development of Smart Grids (SGs) is a current trend and an indispensable essential living requirement. Due to economic development and improved quality of life, electricity demand has rapidly increased. However, the power grids in major cities have become outdated, leading to uneven power distribution and frequent power outages. SGs can adjust distribution strategies based on consumers’ real-time electricity demands, which requires continuous transmission of consumer electricity data within the grid. If the privacy and security of these data cannot be ensured, consumers’ habits will be exposed, and unnecessary waste may occur. In this article, we propose a key distribution process based on QKD, enabling entities within the SG to encrypt and authenticate each other’s data, ensuring the security and privacy of communication channels and transmitted data.
The development and evolution of the smart grid into complex, cyber-physical energy systems make it essential to secure?communication among the distributed components. The rise of quantum computing has made it even more pressing to develop protocols that?are secure outside the limitations of classical cryptosystems. In this paper, it proposes a quantum-assisting secure communication scheme (QASCP) to?boost the security and energy for smart grid communication systems. The proposed protocol combines quantum key distribution with lightweight entropy-based mutual authentication and dynamic session management. It is designed to defend grid assets such as control centers, smart meters, and distribute energy?resources from sophisticated adversarial models, including quantum-capable threats. The approach consists of system level simulation utilizing a?co-simulation framework customized for quantum smart grid communication. The performance of this scheme was compared?against classical and PQ lattice-based schemes in terms of the authentication latency, energy consumption, entropy preservation, and scalability to handle the load and delay effects, under the assumptions of different loading and delay scenarios. Simulation results show that QASCP is able to reduce the energy consumption and authenticity latency, simultaneously it keeps the high throughput and leaves strong entropy?under attack scenarios. The protocol is also shown to?remain robust with varying quantum bit error rates as well as having a smaller memory footprint on popular network topologies. The results provide evidence for the practical integration of?quantum-secure communication in smart grid architectures. By addressing security and performance simultaneously, the protocol?provides a path to future-proof energy networks which can support dependable operations in a quantum-enhanced environment. This could be future enhance for energy efficiency.