A smart grid network (SGN) is an advanced electrical grid system based on information and communication technology. The system uses digital technology, sensors, and two-way communication to manage electricity flow from generation to consumption, enabling real-time monitoring, efficiency, reliability, and seamless integration of renewable and electric vehicles. In the present time, SG network systems are vulnerable to cyber security attacks because these systems use sensors as well as the internet during two-way communication. So, there is a critical need of cryptosystems that can ensure the security of two-way smart grid communication. There are numerous authentication protocols proposed by researchers to protect smart grid networks (SGNs) from cyber security attacks. But, most of them are based on prime factorization and discrete logarithmic problems, which are vulnerable to quantum computing attacks. The researchers have found that lattice-based cryptographic primitives are important candidates to form cryptosystems that are hard to break even on quantum computers. The aim of this article is to find out lattice-based cryptosystems that are suitable to design the cryptographic protocols secure against quantum computing attacks. This survey provides an overview of lattice-based cryptosystems and their applications in securing SG networks.
A smart grid network (SGN) is an advanced electrical grid system based on information and communication technology. The system uses digital technology, sensors, and two-way communication to manage electricity flow from generation to consumption, enabling real-time monitoring, efficiency, reliability, and seamless integration of renewable and electric vehicles. In the present time, SG network systems are vulnerable to cyber security attacks because these systems use sensors as well as the internet during two-way communication. So, there is a critical need of cryptosystems that can ensure the security of two-way smart grid communication. There are numerous authentication protocols proposed by researchers to protect smart grid networks (SGNs) from cyber security attacks. But, most of them are based on prime factorization and discrete logarithmic problems, which are vulnerable to quantum computing attacks. The researchers have found that lattice-based cryptographic primitives are important candidates to form cryptosystems that are hard to break even on quantum computers. The aim of this article is to find out lattice-based cryptosystems that are suitable to design the cryptographic protocols secure against quantum computing attacks. This survey provides an overview of lattice-based cryptosystems and their applications in securing SG networks.
Summary The present scenario witnesses “the second quantum revolution,” which has enabled the development of revolutionary novel quantum tools. Quantum computing endeavors to establish higher computing standards that can potentially solve complex structures. Post‐quantum cryptography (PQC) has emerged as one of the new domains of cryptography, which is resilient to quantum attacks owing to the revolution in quantum computing. To ensure quantum security, the lattice‐based cryptosystem (LB‐cryptosystem) is one of the promising tools of PQC to address quantum‐based threats. The traditional security algorithms, such as RSA and Diffie–Hellman (DH), are strong enough to resist present security threats. However, it has been predicted that quantum technologies have the capability to break the security of most traditional algorithms whose security is based on prime factorization and DH‐type hard problems. Therefore, research is currently focused on addressing the security and privacy threats by using LB‐cryptosystems to secure various applications, organizations' data, and information infrastructure in the quantum era. The purpose of this article is to investigate recent advances in LB‐cryptosystems that may allow the design of secure models for smart‐grid networks (SGNs) against existing and future quantum attacks. SGNs have been explored as the bi‐directional assimilation of communication in terms of electricity generation, transmission, allocation, and utilization. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of LB‐cryptosystems, as well as their potential applications in securing SGNs. Lastly, the article summarizes the various PQC primitives, NIST selected algorithms, open‐source tools along with their packages, and various PQC industrial initiatives, and also compares traditional cryptographic schemes with other PQC.
The recent advancement of smart grid systems, integrating cyber-physical systems with information and communication technologies enables real-time monitoring, control, and data transmission. However, these operations often inherently insecure communication infrastructures increasing exposure to cyber threats and data breaches. Consequently, cryptographic authenticated and key agreement protocols address cyber-attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities to protect data privacy and security in smart grid. Meanwhile, quantum computing progression is rapidly footprinted in real-world application thus quantum computing-based Grover's and Shor’s algorithm is capable for breaking classical cryptographic algorithms mathematical advances. Therefore, this review explores the adaptability of quantum computing, examines its impact on classical cryptography vulnerabilities, and highlights the role of quantum cryptography in enhancing security and scalability of smart grid cyber-physical systems. Accordingly, a comparative analysis was conducted to assess the security and performance of Rivest-Shamir Adleman, elliptic curve cryptography and digital signature algorithms against quantum cryptography for highlighting their respective strengths and limitations in quantum era context. This review provides a foundation of future researchers for integrate quantum technology and develop quantum-resilient solutions that overcome the constraints of classical cryptography.
The Smart Grid (SG) represents the next-generation power system in the future grid infrastructure, designed for self-healing, adaptability, and sustainability. However, the interconnected and geographically dispersed nature of SG systems introduces cybersecurity risks, potentially leading to severe incidents. Cyber attacks on SG applications could result in significant events, including outages and infrastructure damage. These attacks may compromise energy data, starting with the leakage of personal information from grid members. To address these risks, confidentiality, device authentication, and data integrity are essential, traditionally implemented through public-key cryptography (PKC). The rise of quantum computers and the potential adaptation of algorithms like Shor’s poses a threat to PKC algorithms in SG communications. In response, we propose a security protocol for post-quantum communication in SG applications, ensuring resilience against classical and quantum attacks. The protocol has been tested through rigorous informal security analysis, and comparative analysis demonstrates its scalability and effectiveness in real-world scenarios.
Due to recent advancements in technology, our computer systems, the data stored on computer systems, and our daily communications through mobile devices and other electronic devices are not entirely safe.The emergence of quantum computers has attracted the attention of researchers and computer scientists.Because, the security of our data and daily communications depends on cryptographic primitives based on discrete logarithmic problems and integer factorization problems, which are not safe in the current quantum computing era.So, there is a need for cryptographic systems that are safe in a quantum computing environment.Researchers have found that cryptographic algorithms based on lattices are secure against quantum computing attacks.Lattice-Based Cryptography (LBC) is considered an alternative to classical cryptosystems based on discrete logarithmic problems and integer factorization problems in a quantum computing environment.This paper aims to provide an overview of LBC, its significance, and its fields of interest.
The incorporation of Electric Vehicles into smart grid networks poses great cybersecurity threats, especially with respect to the secure authentication of devices and communications between charging stations, electric vehicles, and grid operators. Conventional cryptography methods like RSA and ECC are susceptible to quantum computing attacks, which call for the implementation of post-quantum cryptography in order to make these systems quantum-resistant. This paper discusses need and imminence of post-quantum cryptography-based authentication mechanisms for improving the security of smart grid infrastructure that facilitates Electric Vehicles operation and charging stations. It introduces the existing authentication protocols, their shortcomings from a quantum threat perspective, and suggests a framework using quantum-resistant algorithms for authenticating devices, exchanging keys, and ensuring data integrity. Moreover, we tackle scalability, efficiency, and standardization issues regarding the deployment of PQC-based solutions in large-scale smart grid settings. This research identifies the compelling need for secure, quantum-resistant authentication systems to protect the increasing overlap of electric vehicles and smart grid networks, with a view to maintaining secure, reliable, and future-proof energy infrastructures.
The smart grid (SG) embodies the future of power systems, featuring self-healing mechanisms, adaptability, and sustainability. Nevertheless, its interconnected and widely distributed architecture presents substantial cybersecurity challenges, rendering it susceptible to cyber attacks that may cause outages, infrastructure failures, and data breaches, including the exposure of personal information. Public-key cryptography (PKC) has historically been utilized to ensure confidentiality, authenticate devices, and maintain data integrity. However, the rise of quantum computing poses a serious threat to the viability of these PKC algorithms, particularly with the potential implementation of algorithms such as Shor’s algorithm. To address these vulnerabilities, we propose an innovative security protocol for post-quantum communication within SG applications, engineered to resist both classical and quantum threats. Our comparative study reveals that this protocol delivers enhanced security and improved functionality while maintaining low communication and computational costs compared to existing methods. We further demonstrate its practicality through real-time testbed experiments and implementations on a Raspberry Pi, supported by an extensive security assessment using the Scyther automated validation tool. A detailed comparison with Kyber in terms of computational efficiency, storage requirements, and implementation overhead to support our lightweight claim. Finally, a network simulation conducted using Network Simulator 3 (NS3) further demonstrates the performance of the proposed scheme, highlighting its scalability and reliability.