Secure underwater communication is vital for maritime operations; however, acoustic channels pose significant challenges, including limited bandwidth, high latency, and complex propagation effects. With quantum computing threatening classical methods, there is a need for cryptographic schemes that can withstand quantum attacks. This study presents a quantum-resistant underwater communication system that integrates CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation, SPHINCS+ for digital signature authentication, and AES for efficient payload encryption. The proposed system is evaluated under realistic underwater channel simulations that account for propagation delay, multipath fading, and Doppler effects. Experimental benchmarks reveal that while post-quantum operations, such as CRYSTALS-Kyber key encapsulation (2.41-4.91ms) and SPHINCS+ signing (96.10ms) exhibit higher latencies compared to classical ECC/ECDSA methods, these latencies remain within acceptable limits given the substantial security advantages they offer. This approach bridges the gap between rigorous quantum-resistant security and practical underwater deployment, establishing a robust foundation for future enhancements in error correction and adaptive network strategies.
Secure underwater communication is vital for maritime operations; however, acoustic channels pose significant challenges, including limited bandwidth, high latency, and complex propagation effects. With quantum computing threatening classical methods, there is a need for cryptographic schemes that can withstand quantum attacks. This study presents a quantum-resistant underwater communication system that integrates CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation, SPHINCS+ for digital signature authentication, and AES for efficient payload encryption. The proposed system is evaluated under realistic underwater channel simulations that account for propagation delay, multipath fading, and Doppler effects. Experimental benchmarks reveal that while post-quantum operations, such as CRYSTALS-Kyber key encapsulation (2.41-4.91ms) and SPHINCS+ signing (96.10ms) exhibit higher latencies compared to classical ECC/ECDSA methods, these latencies remain within acceptable limits given the substantial security advantages they offer. This approach bridges the gap between rigorous quantum-resistant security and practical underwater deployment, establishing a robust foundation for future enhancements in error correction and adaptive network strategies.
As the advent of quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic protocols, hybrid classical-quantum secure communication infrastructures have emerged as a critical frontier in cybersecurity. This paper explores the integration of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms—specifically CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation and CRYSTALS-Dilithium for digital signatures—into hybrid communication architectures designed to resist quantum-level attacks. Leveraging lattice-based cryptographic primitives, both algorithms have been selected for standardization by NIST due to their robust security and performance characteristics. This study evaluates their implementation in real-world communication stacks, assesses latency and throughput under hybrid channel configurations, and proposes a layered security architecture combining classical and quantum-resilient mechanisms. Furthermore, it examines key management, digital trust, and infrastructure scalability in a post-quantum context. Simulation results and hardware-based validations are used to determine practical deployment feasibility in critical sectors such as finance, defense, and healthcare. The findings offer a comprehensive framework for securing data in transitional computing eras, ensuring forward secrecy, and maintaining operational integrity against future adversarial quantum threats.
The advent of quantum computing poses a significant threat to classical cryptographic systems, necessitating the development of quantum-resistant alternatives. This thesis explores a hybrid key exchange framework combining Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to secure classical post-processing steps such as information reconciliation and privacy amplification. Specifically, CRYSTALS-Kyber is used for key encapsulation, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium and SPHINCS+ provide digital signatures for authentication. While the mathematical security foundations of these algorithms are assumed, their integration is evaluated through performance benchmarking and system-level analysis. The results show that incorporating PQC-based authentication into QKD post-processing significantly improves resilience against quantum adversaries, while introducing only a reasonable computational and bandwidth overhead. This work contributes to the development of robust hybrid cryptographic systems capable of with standing both classical and quantum-era threats.
The advent of quantum computing poses significant challenges to traditional cryptographic systems, threatening the confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of digital communications. This paper investigates the integration of Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms into mobile communication systems to address these challenges. The study focuses on evaluating key PQC algorithms shortlisted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), including CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Falcon and SPHINCS+, within the context of 5G and future mobile network architectures. The research encompasses the design and implementation of an experimental framework involving mobile devices, servers, and cloud-based infrastructure to simulate real-world communication scenarios. Performance metrics such as key generation time, signature generation, encryption and decryption speed, and resource consumption were analyzed across various devices to identify algorithms suitable for mobile environments. The findings reveal that lattice-based algorithms, such as Kyber and Dilithium, offer a promising balance between security and efficiency, making them ideal for resource-constrained devices. In contrast, hash-based algorithms like SPHINCS+ exhibit higher computational demands, limiting their practicality in certain applications. This work highlights the importance of algorithm selection and hardware optimization in ensuring secure and efficient communications in the quantum era. By integrating theoretical advancements in PQC with practical applications, this research lays the foundation for quantum-resistant security in mobile networks, ensuring secure and future-ready digital communications.
The rise of quantum computing threatens traditional cryptographic systems, driving the urgent adoption of PQC algorithms for securing IoT and edge computing environments. However, selecting an optimal PQC scheme remains challenging due to trade-offs between security strength, computational efficiency, and scalability in real-world deployments. While algorithms like CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, and SPHINCS+ offer quantum resilience. These suffer from processing overhead, high energy consumption, and limited adaptability, hindering their seamless integration into latency-sensitive and resource-constrained IoT networks. In this study, we conduct a comprehensive and systematic performance evaluation of these PQC algorithms within the context of IoT-based cryptographic scheduling workflows, assessing critical efficiency parameters such as encryption/decryption time, execution speed, system latency, energy efficiency, and scalability under varying processing loads and batch sizes. Our analysis reveals that CRYSTALS-Kyber consistently outperforms its counterparts, demonstrating superior computational efficiency, minimal processing delays, and lower power consumption while maintaining high-security resilience against quantum adversaries. Additionally, we propose a dynamic cryptographic scheduling approach, optimizing the balance between security levels and computational resource allocation, ensuring efficient cryptographic task management in large-scale IoT networks. This research provides a foundation for the practical deployment and standardization of PQC in next-generation cryptographic architectures, enabling the seamless transition from classical to quantum-secure cryptographic frameworks. The insights gained from this study are pivotal for advancing cryptographic scheduling models, enhancing security efficiency in real-time IoT operations, and driving the global adoption of PQC algorithms for future-proof digital security infrastructures.
The rapid expansion of 5G wireless networks has introduced unprecedented security challenges, particularly in the face of emerging quantum computing threats. Traditional cryptographic schemes, including Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), face vulnerabilities against quantum-based attacks, necessitating a transition toward quantum-resistant security solutions. A hybrid cryptographic framework incorporating CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation is proposed to mitigate these threats. CRYSTALS-Kyber, a lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm, enhances key exchange mechanisms by resisting quantum decryption attempts while maintaining computational efficiency. The proposed framework integrates CRYSTALS-Kyber with conventional ECC to establish a dual-layer security model that ensures backward compatibility while progressively adapting to quantum security standards. Simulation results demonstrate that the hybrid approach significantly enhances key exchange security while maintaining a low computational overhead. In particular, latency is reduced by 18.4% compared to standalone ECC-based key exchange, while key generation time improves by 22.7% due to CRYSTALS-Kyber’s efficient polynomial arithmetic operations. Furthermore, encryption throughput increases by 31.2%, demonstrating the model''s capability to secure high-speed 5G transmissions with minimal performance trade-offs.
Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is extensively applied in secure transactions, authentication procedures, and smart devices. As of now, NFC security is based on conventional cryptographic algorithms like RSA, ECC, and AES. But with the promising progress of quantum computing, these algorithms are subject to the growing threat of quantum attacks—namely Shor's algorithm for RSA and ECC, and Grover's algorithm for AES. This paper responds to the imminent demand for quantum-resilient security in NFC systems by introducing a post-quantum cryptographic scheme that combines Kyber, a lattice-based key encapsulation mechanism, and SPHINCS+, a stateless hash-based signature scheme. These algorithms are among the finalists in the NIST post-quantum cryptography standardization effort and are resistant to both classical and quantum attackers. Through a comparative study with conventional cryptographic schemes, we illustrate the potential of Kyber and SPHINCS+ to provide strong, scalable, and future-proof security for NFC applications. This work is intended to pave the way for secure NFC communication in the age of quantum computing.