In the rapidly evolving domain of smart healthcare, the integration of Docker containers and Kubernetes with Internet of Things (IoT) edge cloud orchestration has significantly enhanced the performance, scalability, and modularity of healthcare applications. However, despite the efficiency benefits provided by microservices architecture, substantial security vulnerabilities persist, particularly in the face of the threat of quantum computing. Quantum algorithms, such as Shor’s and Grover’s, pose a significant risk to conventional encryption schemes, potentially compromising the integrity and confidentiality of healthcare data distributed across edge cloud environments. To address these critical concerns, we propose AQ-ResCon: an Adaptive Quantum-Resistant Lattice-Based Key Agreement Protocol designed for secure and resilient distributed container orchestration. AQ-ResCon leverages the hardness of the Learning With Errors (LWE) problem in lattice-based cryptography to provide a robust defence against quantum attacks. We further introduce the AQ-ResCon Scheduler Algorithm, which efficiently manages and executes healthcare workloads across decentralised IoT-edge-cloud nodes, ensuring secure data flow and orchestration. Extensive testbed experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance and security effectiveness of AQ-ResCon under realistic containerised healthcare scenarios. Results demonstrate that AQ-ResCon achieves up to 36% improvement in scheduling efficiency, 41% reduction in key compromise rates, and 28% lower latency compared to existing quantum-vulnerable orchestration protocols. Additionally, the AQ-ResCon protocol maintained consistent performance under simulated quantum attack conditions, validating its adaptability and resilience. These outcomes confirm that AQ-ResCon is a viable, secure, and future-proof solution for safeguarding microservices-based healthcare applications against evolving quantum threats in edge cloud environments.
In the rapidly evolving domain of smart healthcare, the integration of Docker containers and Kubernetes with Internet of Things (IoT) edge cloud orchestration has significantly enhanced the performance, scalability, and modularity of healthcare applications. However, despite the efficiency benefits provided by microservices architecture, substantial security vulnerabilities persist, particularly in the face of the threat of quantum computing. Quantum algorithms, such as Shor’s and Grover’s, pose a significant risk to conventional encryption schemes, potentially compromising the integrity and confidentiality of healthcare data distributed across edge cloud environments. To address these critical concerns, we propose AQ-ResCon: an Adaptive Quantum-Resistant Lattice-Based Key Agreement Protocol designed for secure and resilient distributed container orchestration. AQ-ResCon leverages the hardness of the Learning With Errors (LWE) problem in lattice-based cryptography to provide a robust defence against quantum attacks. We further introduce the AQ-ResCon Scheduler Algorithm, which efficiently manages and executes healthcare workloads across decentralised IoT-edge-cloud nodes, ensuring secure data flow and orchestration. Extensive testbed experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance and security effectiveness of AQ-ResCon under realistic containerised healthcare scenarios. Results demonstrate that AQ-ResCon achieves up to 36% improvement in scheduling efficiency, 41% reduction in key compromise rates, and 28% lower latency compared to existing quantum-vulnerable orchestration protocols. Additionally, the AQ-ResCon protocol maintained consistent performance under simulated quantum attack conditions, validating its adaptability and resilience. These outcomes confirm that AQ-ResCon is a viable, secure, and future-proof solution for safeguarding microservices-based healthcare applications against evolving quantum threats in edge cloud environments.
Cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled smart healthcare plays a vital role in modern society, yet security and privacy challenges remain unavoidable. The authenticated key agreement (AKA) process, which serves as the foundation of secure communication, is widely recognized as a key solution to these challenges. However, many existing AKA methods in the literature either involve high communication and computational costs or fail to withstand quantum attacks. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) introduces a new class of cryptographic algorithms designed to resist future quantum computer threats. In this article, we present a quantum-secure, lattice-based three-party AKA scheme for smart IoT healthcare applications, leveraging the computationally complex Ring-Learning With Errors (Ring-LWE) problem. Our approach integrates secure big-data analytics with blockchain technology by utilizing authentication procedures for secure data aggregation before storing it in the blockchain. A comprehensive security evaluation including formal and informal analysis, demonstrates the scheme's strong resilience against both classical and quantum attacks. Additionally, experimental results confirm that the proposed scheme is well-suited for real-time smart healthcare applications.
As quantum computing evolves from theoretical promise to emerging reality, the urgency to develop quantum-resilient data protection mechanisms becomes increasingly paramount-particularly within critical infrastructure systems dependent on multi-cloud architectures.This study explores the design and deployment of quantum-resilient encryption protocols tailored to secure sensitive data flows across heterogeneous and decentralized cloud environments supporting energy, transportation, defense, and healthcare infrastructures.Beginning from a broader analysis of cryptographic vulnerabilities posed by quantum adversaries-especially those exploiting Shor's and Grover's algorithms-the paper highlights the limitations of current asymmetric key systems and symmetric encryption practices in multi-cloud data orchestration.Building on this foundation, the research narrows in on post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) frameworks, including lattice-based, code-based, and multivariate polynomial schemes, evaluating their performance and adaptability for dynamic cloud-native systems.A key focus is placed on designing lightweight, interoperable encryption protocols that can seamlessly integrate with federated identity management, zero-trust security models, and real-time data streams without introducing prohibitive latency or computational burden.The study also presents an architectural model that allows for real-time key negotiation, distributed trust management, and algorithm agility, ensuring compliance with both current and forward-looking regulatory standards (e.g., NIST PQC guidelines).Simulation and benchmarking conducted across hybrid cloud environments demonstrate that carefully optimized quantum-resilient protocols can be implemented without compromising system availability or scalability.The results validate the feasibility of transitioning from conventional cryptography to quantum-safe models in mission-critical multi-cloud operations.The paper concludes by offering a strategic roadmap for organizations seeking to future-proof their cloud infrastructures against quantum-era threats.
The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) has connected billions of smart devices across healthcare, transportation, industrial automation, and smart home environments. While IoT has enhanced automation and data-driven decision-making, its widespread deployment has also increased the risk of cyberattacks. Conventional public-key cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) are vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks, particularly those based on Shor's algorithm. This paper proposes a Quantum-Resistant Cryptographic Framework (QRCF) for secure IoT communication using lattice-based cryptography integrated with lightweight authentication and efficient key management. The framework is designed to meet the computational limitations of IoT devices while ensuring long-term confidentiality and integrity. Performance evaluation demonstrates improvements in security resilience, authentication efficiency, and communication reliability compared with traditional cryptographic approaches. The proposed framework offers a scalable and future-ready solution for protecting IoT ecosystems in the post-quantum era.
As the digital landscape evolves, the reliance on cloud computing for critical infrastructure across various sectors highlights the need for robust security mechanisms to protect sensitive data from emerging cyber threats, particularly those posed by quantum computing. Traditional cryptographic systems, while currently effective, are vulnerable to quantum attacks, necessitating the development of quantum-resistant solutions. This research introduces the Quantum-Resilient Cryptographic Framework (QRCF), a hybrid, adaptive cryptographic framework designed to safeguard cloud environments against both classical and quantum threats. The QRCF integrates lattice-based Kyber and code-based McEliece algorithms, offering a comprehensive and scalable solution for secure data storage, management, and transmission. Key contributions include the development of a dynamic security management layer that adapts to real-time threat analysis, ensuring continuous protection against evolving threats, and the implementation of robust post-quantum cryptographic methods that maintain high performance and low computational overhead. Quantitative analysis shows that the QRCF maintains a high throughput of 420 MB/s for encryption and 400 MB/s for decryption under normal operations, with latency as low as 3.2 ms and 3.6 ms, respectively. The framework exhibited strong resistance to various attack models, with success rates of 1.0% for brute-force attacks, 1.875% for MITM attacks, 0.833% for side-channel attacks, and 1.6% for replay attacks. Against quantum threats, the QRCF showed no vulnerability to Shor’s Algorithm and a minimal success rate of 0.667% for Grover’s Algorithm. The framework’s design ensures seamless integration with existing cloud infrastructures, providing practical migration strategies to quantum-safe cryptography without disrupting operational workflows. By addressing key research gaps in quantum-safe cloud security, this study contributes significantly to the field, offering a robust, scalable, and efficient cryptographic solution that enhances the security and operational performance of cloud environments in the face of advancing quantum computational capabilities.
As quantum computing continues to advance, traditional cryptographic methods used in securing Internet of Things (IoT) networks, especially Nano-IoT devices, face significant vulnerabilities. This paper proposes a novel adaptive quantum-safe Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system that integrates quantum-safe cryptography with cognitive computing to address these challenges. The system utilizes lattice-based and hash-based cryptographic algorithms to ensure resistance to quantum attacks while dynamically adjusting security protocols based on real-time environmental factors such as device power, network conditions, and potential threats. The proposed solution is evaluated through case studies in both smart city and industrial IoT environments, demonstrating its scalability, security resilience, and efficiency in resource-constrained conditions. The results highlight the system's ability to adapt to quantum threats, offering a robust, future-proof solution for IoT security in the quantum era.
The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems has introduced significant security challenges due to resource-constrained devices, heterogeneous network architectures, and largescale connectivity. Traditional authentication and key exchange mechanisms, primarily based on classical cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECC, are vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks. The emergence of quantum algorithms, particularly Shor’s algorithm, threatens the long-term confidentiality and integrity of IoT communications. This paper proposes a Quantum-Resistant Authentication and Key Exchange Protocol specifically designed for secure IoT architectures. The proposed framework integrates post-quantum cryptographic primitives, including lattice-based key exchange mechanisms and hash-based authentication schemes, optimized for low computational overhead suitable for constrained IoT devices. The protocol ensures mutual authentication, forward secrecy, and resistance against quantum adversaries while maintaining minimal communication latency. Security analysis demonstrates robustness against replay, man-in-the-middle, and key-compromise attacks. Performance evaluation shows that the proposed solution achieves a balance between quantum security strength and resource efficiency, making it suitable for next-generation IoT deployments in smart cities, healthcare systems, and industrial automation.