ABSTRACT Traditional encryption methods face significant challenges due to the rapid advancement of quantum computing, necessitating the use of quantum‐resistant solutions. Cryptographic hash functions are used by Sphincs+, a stateless hash‐based digital signature technique, to provide robust protection against quantum attacks. This research investigates the application of Sphincs+, alongside Dilithium and Falcon, to enhance the security of medical images, which are critical for diagnostic and therapeutic processes in healthcare. By utilising digital signatures for authentication and integrity verification, Sphincs+ mitigates risks associated with unauthorised tampering and data manipulation. The integration of Sphincs+ into medical imaging frameworks strengthens data security, ensuring long‐term resilience against quantum‐enabled threats while maintaining the reliability of healthcare records.
ABSTRACT Traditional encryption methods face significant challenges due to the rapid advancement of quantum computing, necessitating the use of quantum‐resistant solutions. Cryptographic hash functions are used by Sphincs+, a stateless hash‐based digital signature technique, to provide robust protection against quantum attacks. This research investigates the application of Sphincs+, alongside Dilithium and Falcon, to enhance the security of medical images, which are critical for diagnostic and therapeutic processes in healthcare. By utilising digital signatures for authentication and integrity verification, Sphincs+ mitigates risks associated with unauthorised tampering and data manipulation. The integration of Sphincs+ into medical imaging frameworks strengthens data security, ensuring long‐term resilience against quantum‐enabled threats while maintaining the reliability of healthcare records.
As quantum computing capabilities continue to evolve, the need for quantum-secure communication protocols is becoming increasingly essential, and ongoing research in this area is crucial to maintain the security and privacy of digital information in healthcare and beyond. Considering the integrity of such data, we proposed a secure medical image transmission using a post-quantum digital signature scheme known as Sphincs+, as suggested by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sphincs+ offers strong security against quantum attacks, ensuring long-term data protection. It is stateless, avoids issues with key reuse, and provides efficient, scalable digital signatures. Its robustness and flexibility make it ideal for diverse applications, maintaining integrity even as quantum computing advances. We transmit a digitally signed image using DICOM encoding and Quantum Fourier Transform for transmission. DICOM ensures standardized, interoperable management of medical images, integrating devices and systems for accurate diagnosis for modern consumer healthcare workflows and record-keeping. The Quantum Fourier Transform offers exponential speedup and higher precision over the classical Fast Fourier Transform, particularly benefiting applications in signal processing, data encryption, and environmental sensing. Advanced mistake detection and repair techniques, as well as extraordinarily fast data transmission, are possible with quantum communication. Additionally, it preserves the confidentiality and integrity of data while lowering the possibility of data loss or corruption during transmission. Some popular performance measuring parameters, such as PNR, MSE, SSIM, etc., are used to validate the proposed framework and observe a convincing result.
The healthcare sector increasingly relies on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) that integrate medical devices, networks, and digital records to deliver critical patient care. Protecting sensitive medical data within these interconnected systems is vital due to potential privacy violations and safety risks. The initiation of quantum computing poses substantial threats to traditional cryptographic algorithms, which underpin current healthcare data security. This article examines the deployment of quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms considered to resist quantum attacks, enabling robust protection of healthcare CPS. It highlights advanced encryption methods including lattice-based, hash-based, and code-based post-quantum schemes, alongside quantum key distribution (QKD) for secure key management. The discussion includes challenges related to healthcare-specific system constraints, regulatory compliance, and integration complexity. Through adopting quantum-resistant cryptography and comprehensive key management protocols, healthcare organizations can safeguard electronic health records (EHRs), device communication, and patient data against incipient post-quantum threats, ensuring long-term data confidentiality, integrity, and system resilience.
Because many modern healthcare security systems rely on traditional cryptographic primitives that are susceptible to quantum attacks, the quick development of quantum computing poses previously unheard-of risks. With the increasing use of wearable sensors, telemedicine, AI-driven diagnostics and distributed clinical databases, as well as the increasing digitisation of healthcare, the need for quantum-resilient protection becomes critical. The integration of quantum and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as fundamental security measures for upcoming intelligent healthcare ecosystems is thoroughly examined in this chapter. We summarise recent developments in cryptographic standards, secure communication protocols, AI-enabled defence mechanisms and blockchain-based data integrity systems using a PRISMA-guided systematic review. With an emphasis on performance, scalability and resistance to Shor- and Grover-based attacks, we further develop a simulation framework to assess hybrid quantum, classical security architectures under adversarial quantum scenarios. Our results show that while hash-based signatures provide ultra-long-term integrity for genomic and archival medical data, lattice-based PQC schemes, in particular CRYSTALS-Kyber and Dilithium, show strong suitability for electronic health record (EHR) encryption, secure IoMT communication and federated learning aggregation. A unified quantum-resilient architecture incorporating PQC, blockchain consensus, AI-based anomaly detection and quantum key distribution (QKD) is one of the theoretical contributions. In summary, we highlight the potential of quantum homomorphic AI, neuromorphic cryptosystems, quantum biometrics and adaptive threat intelligence to develop a safe, reliable and scalable paradigm for quantum-ready healthcare.
The classic methods of encryption and ciphering techniques have a major threat due to the rapid growth of quantum computing. This is particularly true for the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) where sensitive patients’ data needs to be protected in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity. RSA and ECC serve as two examples of public key cryptographic algorithms that are highly vulnerable to quantum attacks especially the Shor’s and Grover’s algorithm. In the context of resource constrained IoMT systems, this thesis proposes a new hash-based hybrid cryptographic algorithm that is resilient to post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) attacks. In order to achieve resistance against quantum threats the proposed method uses hash-based digital signatures such as XMSS, SPHINCS+, or symmetric encryption like AES-256 with higher key sizes. In the Qiskit environment (Python, Anaconda Navigator, and Jupyter Notebook), Grover’s algorithm is modeled to simulate quantum threats. The proposed method is tested through quantum circuit analysis to evaluate their robustness. Our results will prove that the hybrid scheme, while remaining lightweight and suitable for real-time medical applications, significantly lowers the efficiency gains of quantum attacks. The proposed method will bridge the gap between the theoretical world of PQC and the practical world of IoMT networks, improving the long-term security and trust in critical healthcare systems.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) form the backbone of modern healthcare, ensuring seamless access to a patient’s medical history and fostering effective patient-doctor relationships. Their digital nature, however, exposes them to myriad security threats, including unauthorized access, tampering, and fraudulent alterations. Traditional cryptographic techniques, while effective in the current digital landscape, might not stand robust against future threats, especially those posed by quantum computers. This paper introduces Quantum Digital Signatures (QDS) as a cutting-edge approach to address this burgeoning concern. QDS leverages the principles of quantum mechanics to provide an additional layer of security, making it computationally infeasible for adversaries to forge or alter signed messages, including sensitive EHR data. Unlike conventional digital signatures that depend on the presumed difficulty of certain mathematical problems, the security attributes of QDS stem from the fundamental laws of quantum physics, ensuring a higher level of integrity and authenticity. We present a comprehensive overview of the QDS protocol and its integration into current EHR systems. Our comparative analysis with existing cryptographic techniques illuminates the advantages of QDS, especially in preventing undetected alterations and ensuring non-repudiation. Practical deployment challenges, including quantum device imperfections and potential integration bottlenecks, are also addressed. The adoption of Quantum Digital Signatures in safeguarding EHRs ushers in a new era of medical data security. While the large-scale implementation of such quantum technologies is still in its infancy, proactive research and early adoption are pivotal in preparing healthcare systems for future challenges. Through this research, we advocate for the broader integration of quantum cryptographic techniques, such as QDS, to uphold the sanctity and trustworthiness of electronic medical data in the face of evolving digital threats.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a significant threat to current cryptographic standards, particularly those securing electronic health records (EHRs) in healthcare systems.Traditional encryption methods such as RSA, ECC, and AES, while robust against classical attacks, are vulnerable to quantum algorithms like Shor's and Grover's, which can efficiently break cryptographic keys and compromise patient data integrity.As healthcare systems become increasingly interconnected through the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based infrastructures, the need for quantum-resistant security mechanisms becomes paramount.Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) emerges as a viable solution to future-proof EHR security by employing lattice-based, hash-based, code-based, and multivariate polynomial cryptographic techniques that remain resistant to quantum attacks.This paper explores the implications of quantum computing on healthcare cybersecurity, emphasizing the vulnerabilities of existing encryption protocols and the necessity of transitioning toward PQC frameworks.Furthermore, we examine the integration of PQC within healthcare infrastructures, focusing on key exchange mechanisms, digital signatures, and end-to-end encryption for secure EHR transactions.Additionally, the study highlights regulatory and compliance considerations, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC standardization efforts and the role of Zero Trust security models in mitigating quantum-era cyber risks.Case studies illustrate successful implementations of PQC in healthcare networks, demonstrating its feasibility and effectiveness in safeguarding sensitive medical information.By adopting quantum-resistant cryptographic standards, healthcare institutions can proactively defend against emerging cyber threats, ensuring data confidentiality, integrity, and long-term resilience in the face of quantum computing advancements.