Abstract As the number and characteristics of smart devices change, the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) emerges. The IoT provides the connected devices with a variety of resources that enable effective communication. At this point, several security issues arise to get the sensitive information behind every communication in the IoT. To provide users with security and privacy, cryptographic schemes are adopted, the most popular being public key cryptographic systems (PKC). However, with the advent of quantum computing, the level of security that can be provided by the PKC schemes is a big question. Another important issue is that the IoT environment is resource‐constrained, which necessitates the implementation of lightweight cryptographic algorithms for better security. In response to these issues, the post‐quantum cryptographic (PQC) schemes are one of the significant developments contributing to IoT security in the post‐quantum world. This article examines the key security issues in the IoT environment and examines the effective solutions found in the literature. The problems in IoT in the quantum era are discussed and appropriate solutions by PKC schemes under limited resources in IoT are focused. As the lattice‐based cryptosystems are more effective, the importance of these schemes in the resource‐constrained IoT is highlighted. This survey also leads to feasible future directions that can support developers and researchers in this field.
Abstract As the number and characteristics of smart devices change, the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) emerges. The IoT provides the connected devices with a variety of resources that enable effective communication. At this point, several security issues arise to get the sensitive information behind every communication in the IoT. To provide users with security and privacy, cryptographic schemes are adopted, the most popular being public key cryptographic systems (PKC). However, with the advent of quantum computing, the level of security that can be provided by the PKC schemes is a big question. Another important issue is that the IoT environment is resource‐constrained, which necessitates the implementation of lightweight cryptographic algorithms for better security. In response to these issues, the post‐quantum cryptographic (PQC) schemes are one of the significant developments contributing to IoT security in the post‐quantum world. This article examines the key security issues in the IoT environment and examines the effective solutions found in the literature. The problems in IoT in the quantum era are discussed and appropriate solutions by PKC schemes under limited resources in IoT are focused. As the lattice‐based cryptosystems are more effective, the importance of these schemes in the resource‐constrained IoT is highlighted. This survey also leads to feasible future directions that can support developers and researchers in this field.
The rapid deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices across critical infrastructure’s sectors such as healthcare, transportation, and smart cities brings unprecedented security challenges; particularly as quantum computing threatens the classical cryptography. This systematic review analyzes IoT security in relation to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), highlighting vulnerabilities, evolving threat, and cryptographic countermeasures. Using the PRISMA 2020 protocol, our work employed a rigorous and reproducible search strategy, where the initial Boolean query, ((“IoT” OR “Internet of Things”) AND (“Cryptography” OR “Encryption Scheme”) AND “Quantum”), was developed and effectively customized for nine reputable databases to maximize the coverage. From an initial pool of 5,151 publications dated between 2020 and February 12, 2025, a content-based screening was conducted at the title, abstract, and full-text levels. This meticulous filtering resulted in a final corpus of 161 studies deemed relevant for in-depth analysis and synthesis. Then, we categorize and analyze PQC algorithms by vulnerabilities, suitability for resource-constrained IoT environments, performance evaluation, scalability, and quantum resilience. We also identify key limitations in implementations of current cryptographic schemes, including issues in key management and authentication; and outline major challenges such as resource constraints of IoT devices, environmental noise, quantum reversible computing, security vulnerabilities, quantum hardware constraints, and complexities in integration. To counter these threats, we propose a framework of PQC countermeasures and illustrated by a hypothetical case study of PQC adoption in a real-world IoT system. Finally, we propose future research directions in lightweight PQC, hybrid frameworks, improved key management and distribution, addressing quantum distance matters, countering quantum threats, and standardization for IoT environments.
This paper presents lightweight Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), identifying its importance for a shift from traditional cryptographic schemes, vulnerable to quantum threats, to efficient PQC algorithms. Lattice-based cryptography stands out owing to its small key sizes and computational efficiency, with CRYSTALS-Kyber and NTRU algorithms being substantial representatives for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. However, PQC implementation in IoT environments has various obstacles to overcome. Minimizing energy consumption, scalability, and hardware limitations remain key challenges for PQC smooth integration into these resource-constrained networks. The present review analyzes the state-of-the-art PQC, makes security and performance comparisons among leading algorithms, and evaluates optimization techniques aimed at reducing resource overheads. Algorithmic refinement, hardware acceleration, and hybrid cryptography are also discussed as methods for mitigating these challenges. The results indicate that continuous research and development efforts should be made to improve the PQC technologies, and thus achieve their practical deployment in IoT systems. Quantum threats in IoT will be, hence, prevented with the employment of secure and scalable IoT ecosystems in a post-quantum world.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the way devices communicate and interact, enabling seamless integration into various aspects of daily life by billions of connected devices equipped with small, embedded controllers that monitor and manage our increasingly interconnected world. The swift growth of IoT devices has led to significant concerns about data security and privacy. Traditional cryptographic algorithms, usually lightweight cryptography, are effective against classical computing threats. However, they are vulnerable to attacks from emerging quantum computing technologies, which can quickly solve the mathematically hard problems used in classical cryptography. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) offers promising solution by providing cryptographic primitives resistant to quantum attacks. This chapter addresses challenges posed by resource constrained IoT devices, like limited processing power and memory. It also explores the integration of PQC algorithms suitable for IoT environments, considering factors like computational efficiency and resistance to quantum attacks.
The growth of quantum computing reveals a series of significant threats to cryptographic systems known today, such as RSA, ECC, and Diffie-Hellman, which are extremely important for Internet security, but are threatened by the increase in possible quantum attacks. The area of public and private key cryptography is vast. Therefore, this article addresses post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms and the challenges of implementing them in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, given the difficulty of application due to restricted resources, such as RAM and clock speed . To this end, we will discuss the need for standardization of algorithms considering low-resource IoT devices, prioritizing RAM over ROM, meeting the needs of low-memory devices, which are lighter. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has validated four cryptographic systems that are secure against quantum attacks. We analyze the implications of these systems on the infrastructure of current networks and will compare in detail these algorithms and their respective strengths, weaknesses, and trade-offs. We evaluate the feasibility of post-quantum encryption (PQC) algorithms in resource-constrained IoT devices using the ESP-WROOM-32 microcontroller. Three cryptographic schemes were implemented and compared.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has grown rapidly, transforming various aspects of daily life into intelligent systems capable of collecting and exchanging data in real time. At the same time, advances in quantum computing have given rise to powerful quantum computers capable of processing complex tasks at unprecedented speed. This disparity between the limited resources of IoT devices and the capabilities of quantum computers poses significant security challenges. Quantum computers introduce new vulnerabilities that threaten IoT systems, particularly in critical applications such as connected healthcare, industrial networks, smart infrastructure, and secure embedded systems. This study reviews the existing literature on post-quantum cryptography (PQC) applied to IoT devices. It analyzes the characteristics and security requirements of IoT environments, current security technologies, and unresolved issues. It highlights the growing threat of post-quantum attacks and the need to adapt security strategies. Finally, the study explores post-quantum code-based cryptosystems as solutions to enhance the security of resource-constrained IoT applications and ensure their resilience against future challenges.
The rapid proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has heightened concerns regarding their security and privacy. Conventional cryptographic methods underpinning IoT security are increasingly threatened by the emergence of quantum computing, which promises to break widely used encryption algorithms such as RSA and ECC. This paper explores post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms tailored to the resource-constrained nature of IoT environments. It analyzes lattice-based, hash-based, code-based, and multivariate polynomial cryptographic schemes as promising candidates for securing IoT communications against quantum attacks. The paper further discusses implementation challenges, performance considerations, and potential pathways for integrating PQC within existing IoT architectures. Empirical data on computational efficiency and security strength are also presented to guide future deployment.