In this paper, a lattice-based lightweight authentication protocol is proposed for resource-constrained devices. The constructed protocol provides post-quantum security by relying on the hardness of module learning with errors (MLWE) assumption over lattices. Physical unclonable function (PUF), message authentication code (MAC), and exclusive or (XOR) operations are used to satisfy lightweight considerations. Informal security analysis shows that the proposed scheme provides integrity, confidentiality, anonymity, mutual authentication, and replay attack resistance. For performance evaluations based on resource-limited environments, two different authentication scenarios are constructed on the ESP32 platform, and analyses are presented in terms of running time, communication cost, and CPU cycles.
In this paper, a lattice-based lightweight authentication protocol is proposed for resource-constrained devices. The constructed protocol provides post-quantum security by relying on the hardness of module learning with errors (MLWE) assumption over lattices. Physical unclonable function (PUF), message authentication code (MAC), and exclusive or (XOR) operations are used to satisfy lightweight considerations. Informal security analysis shows that the proposed scheme provides integrity, confidentiality, anonymity, mutual authentication, and replay attack resistance. For performance evaluations based on resource-limited environments, two different authentication scenarios are constructed on the ESP32 platform, and analyses are presented in terms of running time, communication cost, and CPU cycles.
IoT devices face mounting security threats: tightly bounded computing budgets on one side, the imminent arrival of quantum adversaries on the other. We present a bidirectional authentication protocol that pairs Physical Unclonable Functions with hash-based primitives so that no long-term key ever sits in device-side non-volatile memory. The scheme is best characterised as Grover-tolerant rather than fully post-quantum: hash one-wayness incurs a quadratic-only slowdown under quantum search, and PUF unclonability adds a physical, non-cryptographic uniqueness assumption - we do not claim parity with NIST-standardised lattice or code-based schemes. Mutual authentication is achieved with conditional forward secrecy and weak unlinkability against external eavesdroppers, while delivering 24.3 ms latency, 15.7 mJ per-authentication energy, and a 136-byte exchange on ESP32. ProVerif symbolic verification, complemented by a sketched QROM reduction with explicit PUF-leakage modelling, covers replay, MITM, impersonation, and physical-capture adversaries. Environmental stressing from 0 °C to 70 °C confirms practical reliability. We deliberately omit ephemeral key exchange and anonymous credentials - the price of doing so is the conditional and partial (rather than full) flavours of forward secrecy and anonymity, which we make explicit throughout.
The rapid proliferation of IoT technology has brought billions of devices into play that need to operate in a variety of diverse, resource-constrained environments. Secure authentication among these devices is a critical challenge, as traditional certificate-based public key infrastructures incur heavy computation and management overhead. Moreover, recent breakthroughs in quantum computing put at risk the security of classical cryptographic algorithms commonly used in IoT systems. This paper proposes a post-quantum certificateless authentication framework designed to address the efficiency-long-term security requirements of IoT environments. The proposed framework uses lattice-based cryptography to resist quantum-enabled adversaries while eliminating the need for digital certificates. The certificateless approach evades the problem of key escrow of identity-based cryptography and simplifies the key management process. A lightweight authentication protocol, which is suitable for constrained IoT devices, is developed. Security analyses prove that our proposed framework resists common attacks such as impersonation, replay, and man-in-the-middle attacks. The performance evaluation shows that our proposed framework reduces the communication and computational overheads compared with the traditional certificatebased authentication schemes. In this way, it is appropriate for large-scale and futureproof deployments of IoT systems.
The integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) has emerged as a promising solution to overcome the limited coverage of conventional roadside unit (RSU)-based infrastructures. However, UAVs operate in open environments and cannot be fully trusted, while the rapid advancement of quantum computing threatens the long-term security of classical public-key cryptographic systems. As a result, many existing UAV-based VANET authentication schemes face fundamental limitations in future deployments. Most existing schemes either lack post-quantum security or incur excessive computational and communication overhead, making them unsuitable for real-time and high-mobility vehicular environments. In addition, the common assumptions of trusted UAVs do not align with realistic threat models. To address these issues, this paper proposes a lightweight post-quantum authentication and key exchange protocol based on the module learning with errors (MLWE) problem and physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The proposed scheme treats UAVs as untrusted relay nodes and excludes them from session key generation. Its security is evaluated using informal analysis, the real-or-random (RoR) model, BAN logic, and AVISPA, while performance evaluation indicates improved efficiency compared to existing schemes.
In this paper, a generic post-quantum authentication protocol is constructed for quantum-resistant satellite communication. This scheme was proposed to address emerging authentication needs in post-quantum satellite communication systems consistent with evolving standards such as Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In the proposed authentication, it is aimed to obtain additional security features and low communication complexity based on simple operations and post-quantum algorithms. The mutual authentication is achieved by using Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF), Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC), and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) primitives. The security analysis shows that the proposed authentication provides additional security properties and resistance to replay and man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks. The main difference between the proposed protocol and PQC-based authentication for satellites in the literature is that it does not require complex operations and provides anonymity, integrity, and legitimacy with the help of lightweight principles. The proposed scheme leverages National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-approved post-quantum cryptographic primitives (e.g., CRYSTALS-Kyber, HQC, SHA3-256), while the overall authentication protocol design is novel and constitutes the main contribution of our work.
Abstract In internet of things (IOT) healthcare systems, sensitive patient information is transmitted over the network to medical professionals. Numerous lightweight authentication protocols have been proposed; however, most of them remain vulnerable to various cyberattacks, allowing attackers to eavesdrop on or manipulate transmitted data. We examine several recently proposed lightweight authentication schemes for healthcare systems. Our security analysis demonstrates that these schemes remain vulnerable to malicious gateway attacks, desynchronization attacks, and key screw attacks. .To address these issues and ensure post- quantum security in healthcare IoT, we propose a post-quantum key establishment protocol based on lattice- based cryptography (LWE). the proposed scheme prevents the gateway from accessing both the secret keys and their parameters, thereby eliminating the possibility of malicious gateway attacks. The proposed protocol ensures user anonymity, forward secrecy, and resistance to impersonation, key screw, and desynchronization attacks.. The proposed protocol ensures secure and efficient establishment of three-round key establishment among entities . Our performance evaluation shows that the proposed scheme achieves lower computation and communication overhead compared to recent related works. The security of the protocol is thoroughly analyzed through informal reasoning, Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic, and ProVerif, confirming its robustness and suitability for resource-constrained IoT-based healthcare environments.
In emerging environments such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), secure authentication and key negotiation play a crucial role in protecting data transmitted over public networks. However, many existing authentication protocols are still designed based on classical public-key cryptography primitives, and quantum computing may threaten their security. To address this challenge, we propose a post-quantum authentication and key agreement protocol that uses the lattice-based Kyber key encapsulation mechanism (KEM). Our proposed protocol integrates cryptographic authentication, smart card protection, and post-quantum key encapsulation mechanisms, enabling mutual authentication between users and servers and securely establishing session keys. The security of the protocol is formally analyzed in the Real-or-Random (ROR) model under the random oracle assumption and the IND-CCA security of the underlying KEM scheme. Furthermore, through informal security analysis, we have further demonstrated that the protocol possesses important security properties, including anonymity, untraceability, perfect forward confidentiality, and resistance to known attacks. In addition, the computational cost and communication overhead of the proposed scheme are evaluated and compared with several representative authentication protocols. The results show that the proposed protocol can provide strong security while maintaining low computational cost and communication overhead.