IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering

Novel Blockchain-Integrated Quantum-Resilient Self-Certified Authentication Protocol for Cross-Industry Communications

Hadi Ghaemi, Dariush Abbasinezhad‐Mood

Published Jul 16, 2024• 44 citations

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) aims at improving the manufacturing cost and quality by inter-connection of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices. In the 4IR, IIoT-based machines need to collaborate securely and autonomously through the insecure Internet channel. Although various blockchain-based protocols have been introduced for securing cross-industry Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, they, are insecure to some cyberattacks, rely on some intermediary servers for successful M2M authentication, are not efficient enough to be employed in the context of IIoT environments, and are not resilient to quantum computers. To address these weaknesses, this paper suggests a novel quantum-resilient self-certified authentication protocol for cross-industry communications using the cutting-edge blockchain technology. Thanks to the blockchain ledger, the cross-industry connections have been facilitated and thanks to the self-certified approach, the blockchain referrals have been reduced to only one ledger reading. In our protocol, no intermediary server needs to involve and IIoT machines can directly authenticate each other. The advantages and efficiency enhancements of our protocol, compared to top-related ones, are shown, respectively, by comparative property and performance analyses. Specifically, our protocol indicates 13% and 91% improvements in communication and computation overheads over the most efficient protocol.

DOI: 10.1109/tnse.2024.3428916

Related papers

Pioneering Blockchain Assisted Authentication Frameworks for the Industrial Internet of Things

Derrick Jia Yung Koay, Jin Ming Neoh, Jia Hou Tan +3 more

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, integrating blockchain with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) presents a groundbreaking synergy with transformative potential. This paper addresses key security challenges in IIoT environments by proposing a novel authentication mechanism for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems that enhances security by integrating Quantum-Elliptic Curve Cryptography (QECC) and a blockchain-regulated, automatic key refreshment mechanism. Building on the ECC-based Diffie-Hellman protocol, our approach addresses vulnerabilities such as Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks by combining quantum cryptography with ECC to detect eavesdroppers and secure communications between Base Stations (BS), Relay Stations (RS), and Subscriber Stations (SS). The blockchain-regulated mechanism ensures periodic and verifiable key updates, enhancing key management against MAC layer and spoofing attacks. This integrated framework significantly improves the security of IIoT systems by ensuring confidentiality, integrity, availability, authenticity, and non-repudiation, offering a robust solution for secure data transmission in IIoT environments.

Journal of Computing and Social InformaticsOct 30, 20241 citation

Quantum-Resistant Three-Party Mutual Authentication Protocol for Industrial IoT Environments

Chaeeon Kim, Deokkyu Kwon, Y K Park +1 more

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) integrates control systems with IoT technology to enable automation and intelligent operations in industrial environments. As IIoT deployments expand, reliance on wireless communication channels increases the attack surface and exposes systems to various security and privacy threats. Moreover, the limited computational capabilities of IIoT devices and the need to preserve device anonymity introduce additional security requirements. Insufficient protection against these challenges can result in operational disruption and significant economic losses. Existing symmetric-key and hash-based schemes are lightweight but lack scalability for large IIoT deployments, whereas public-key methods provide stronger security. However, the emergence of quantum computing threatens the long-term security of such protocols, as quantum algorithms can efficiently break conventional number-theoretic cryptosystems. To address these challenges, we propose a quantum-resistant three-party authentication and key agreement (AKA) protocol for the IIoT. The ring learning with errors (RLWE)-based protocol provides quantum-safe and efficient mutual authentication and secure session key establishment between workers and devices. Comprehensive security and performance analyses demonstrate that the proposed protocol is robust against security attacks. Performance evaluations confirm lower computational and communication overhead than existing post-quantum schemes, proving its practicality for IIoT.

IEEE Internet of Things JournalMar 25, 20262 citations

Quantum Secure Authentication Scheme for Internet of Medical Things Using Blockchain

Sunil Prajapat, Pankaj Kumar, Dheeraj Kumar +3 more

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is a compelling networking paradigm integrating wireless communications sensors, connected devices, and embedded computing technologies. The IoMT involves the collection of real-time health data using sophisticated medical sensors. In recent years, the IoMT has become increasingly significant within the broader context of the Internet of Things (IoT). It provides accessibility for health monitoring and poses security obstacles to safeguarding the confidentiality and privacy of patient data. Therefore, this article presents a blockchain-integrated quantum authentication scheme in sensor-assisted IoMT networks. The proposed concept utilizes blockchain technology to achieve efficient patient authentication without the need for third-party entities. In addition, a secure quantum authentication scheme is designed not to require patients to authenticate themselves when communicating with multiple doctors simultaneously. This protocol explicitly addresses how clinicians can misuse their professional roles toward patients in IoMT networks. An evaluation analysis assesses the proposed technique’s efficacy compared to existing authentication schemes. The performance analyses demonstrate that the proposed protocol is resilient against various security attacks. Also, the practical usability of the quantum authentication scheme proved its importance as a significant improvement in communication security for IoMT networks.

IEEE Internet of Things JournalAug 22, 202450 citations

Analysis of Quantum-Enhanced Security for Industrial IoT Using Post-Quantum Cryptography

Prof. Kanade Poonam Ganpat, Meesala Sudhir Kumar

The explosive growth of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies has been reshaping manufacturing, energy, transportation and infrastructure with real-time monitoring and automation supported by predictive analytics. The more interconnected machines are, the more vulnerable they become to advanced cyberattacks. RSA and ECC are two of the dominant cryptographic algorithms that 60% of the IIoT communications today. They are still susceptible to quantum computing attacks, especially from Shor, which can easily break public-key encryption. This new risk, and the threat it represents, calls for a monitoring of the quantum situation by adding Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to guarantee data privacy and resilient systems. This work studies the quantum-empowered security approach to IIoT environment and considers lattice-based, hash-based and code-based cryptography techniques immune to quantum attacks. This paper investigates the industrial system design demands, identifies some of these weaknesses, and presents a secure communication architecture including post-quantum cryptography for device authentication, secure firmware updates and data encryption. Studies show that due to constraints in resources, triage for IIoT devices is difficult, especially because of limitations of processors, among others; latency and scalability are two issues. The approach proposed showcases a means for industrial cybersecurity to benefit from post-quantum cryptography without losing efficiency.

International Conference on Innovative Practices in Technology and Management (ICIPTM)Feb 19, 20260 citations

Advanced blockchain-enabled deep quantum computing model for secured machine-to-machine communication

Rajeev Arora, Aniruddh Tiwari, Mohd Muqeem

Abstract Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication has become an integral part of various industries, facilitating efficient data exchange and enabling autonomous decision-making processes. However, the proliferation of interconnected devices has brought about unprecedented security challenges. Conventional cryptographic methods may not be sufficient to protect sensitive data in the face of rapidly evolving cyber threats. To address this issue, a novel approach combining blockchain technology and deep quantum computing has been proposed to enhance the security and privacy of M2M communication. This paper presents an advanced blockchain-enabled deep quantum computing model designed to safeguard machine-to-machine communication from potential cyber threats. At the core of the model is a quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol, which enables the secure establishment of cryptographic keys between communicating devices. To ensure the scalability and immutability of the M2M communication network, a blockchain framework is integrated into the system. Additionally, the model incorporates deep learning techniques to bolster the security infrastructure further. In this paper we introduce an innovative solution to address the security challenges in machine-to-machine communication. By integrating advanced quantum computing, blockchain technology, and deep learning, the proposed model establishes a robust and secure framework that ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of M2M data exchanges.

CRC Press eBooksApr 22, 20255 citations

QLight-IIoT: A Quantum-Resistant Lightweight Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme for Resource-Constrained IIoT Environments

Baisakhi Upadhyaya, Amaresh Chandra Panda, Swagat Sourav Mohanty +2 more

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) enables smart manufacturing through advanced sensing, monitoring, and control capabilities. However, securing these resource-constrained IIoT devices poses critical challenges due to limited memory and energy resources, while the emergence of quantum computing threatens existing security mechanisms. This study addresses the urgent need for practical quantum-resistant security solutions for deployment in resource-limited industrial environments. It presents QLight-IIoT, a quantum-resistant authentication and key agreement (AKA) scheme established solely on hash-based hardness assumption, demonstrating that lightweight quantum-resistant authentication is achievable without relying on computationally intensive primitives like lattices or codes. The proposed scheme is deployed and tested over Raspberry Pi 4 to demonstrate its practicality in real-world IIoT environments. Experimental validation shows that the scheme ensures mutual authentication with session key establishment with an average key generation time of 0.3200 seconds. The security of the proposed QLight-IIoT scheme is systematically evaluated using the Real-or-Random (ROR) model, the Scyther tool, and the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) framework. Performance evaluation reveals significant efficiency improvements, achieving 9.29–77.36% reduction in communication cost and 4.41–95.37% reduction in Computational overhead relative to existing schemes. The scheme requires minimal storage of 632 bits per IIoT device, resulting in up to 64.84% reduction in total system storage cost. Comparative security analysis further validates the scheme’s security against various attack vectors. This work provides a practical pathway for industrial organizations to prepare IIoT infrastructure for quantum-resistant security challenges while maintaining compatibility with current resource-constrained hardware.

IEEE Internet of Things JournalApr 8, 20262 citations