The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses critical challenges to traditional cryptographic infrastructures, particularly those relying on the hardness of mathematical problems such as RSA. Quantum cryptography provides a promising alternative by leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics for secure communication. In this work, we propose a lightweight quantum encryption scheme designed to deliver strong security properties suitable for next-generation consumer technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT). The proposed protocol protects against multiple attack vectors, such as replay, side-channel, Sybil, and eavesdropping attacks, while simplifying key management through an identity-based mechanism. The system employs unitary transformations for qubit encryption, thereby ensuring confidentiality of probability amplitudes during transmission. Security validation using the Scyther tool demonstrates the protocol’s resilience against active and passive threats, while quantum simulation results on the IBM Perth device confirm its practicality and efficiency. The results indicate a 93.33% accuracy rate, closely aligning with theoretical expectations, making the scheme a strong candidate for secure communication in quantum-enabled consumer ecosystems.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses critical challenges to traditional cryptographic infrastructures, particularly those relying on the hardness of mathematical problems such as RSA. Quantum cryptography provides a promising alternative by leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics for secure communication. In this work, we propose a lightweight quantum encryption scheme designed to deliver strong security properties suitable for next-generation consumer technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT). The proposed protocol protects against multiple attack vectors, such as replay, side-channel, Sybil, and eavesdropping attacks, while simplifying key management through an identity-based mechanism. The system employs unitary transformations for qubit encryption, thereby ensuring confidentiality of probability amplitudes during transmission. Security validation using the Scyther tool demonstrates the protocol’s resilience against active and passive threats, while quantum simulation results on the IBM Perth device confirm its practicality and efficiency. The results indicate a 93.33% accuracy rate, closely aligning with theoretical expectations, making the scheme a strong candidate for secure communication in quantum-enabled consumer ecosystems.
The rapid growth of consumer electronic devices connected through emerging 6G networks introduces critical challenges in ensuring data security, privacy, and trust across decentralized internet of consumer electronics IoCE infrastructures. Traditional encryption and access control models are insufficient for highly dynamic, software-defined, and zero-touch network (ZTN) environments typical of consumer electronics. In this work, we propose a blockchain-assisted quantum encryption protocol tailored for IoCE-cloud architectures within secure and standardized 6G systems. The scheme integrates quantum key generation via unitary transformations, lightweight symmetric encryption using the ASCON cipher, and tamper-proof authentication through blockchain. It enables autonomous, self-configuring, and self-protecting communication pathways between consumer devices and cloud infrastructure. Formal and informal security analyses demonstrate resilience against classical and quantum attacks, including replay, eavesdropping, and Sybil attacks. The protocol is validated using Qiskit simulations on IBM quantum hardware, achieving 91% fidelity. Performance evaluation confirms its efficiency and scalability, highlighting its potential as a secure-by-design framework for next-generation IoCE systems aligned with the Zero-Touch vision.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding swiftly, offering ease in everyday life. As the IoT systems produce enormous volumes of data, frequently encompassing private and confidential information, it is imperative to ensure their security. To ensure the security in IoT systems, we present a blockchain-enabled data encryption scheme utilizing quantum computing. This consensus mechanism eliminates the need for outside central service providers and encrypts data and accumulates converted cipher-text using consensus nodes acting as proxy service nodes. This approach alleviates the constraints associated with storing and sharing private encrypted information securely over a decentralized network. The suggested protocol possesses security attributes to counter replay attacks, side-channel attacks, Sybil attacks, and eavesdropping attacks, while mitigating tampering risks through targeted verification. Experimental results demonstrate an accuracy rate of 93.33%, with any discrepancies attributed to quantum device errors. The proposed protocol combines quantum encryption and blockchain-based security to create a scalable, decentralized, and resilient framework for securing IoT data sharing.
The resource limitations of IoT nodes and the vulnerability of wireless channels to cyberattacks and snooping, the quick spread of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in wireless surroundings has created serious challenges to data security and privacy. The development of quantum computing, which can meritoriously crack classical encryption, is posing a growing threat to recognized cryptographic techniques like RSA and ECC. By applying concepts from quantum mechanics like predicament cloning, quantum cryptography, in particular Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), provides tentatively unbreakable security. In order to integrate lightweight quantum key exchange with traditional IoT communication protocols, this paper proposes a comprehensive Quantum Cryptography Framework (QCF) exactly designed for Wireless IoT networks. The framework is made to preserve energy efficiency while certifying forward secrecy, confidentiality, integrity, and authentication. A performance evaluation in terms of latency, throughput, and resistance to quantum attacks supports our discussion of the architecture, working mechanism, and implementation deliberations. The findings show that, when compared to traditional encryption methods, the suggested QCF greatly improves the security of wireless IoT systems, certifying resilience against oppositional models of the future.
The rapid proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has revolutionized digital communication, yet it simultaneously poses unprecedented security challenges due to constrained device capabilities and increasing cyber threats. Conventional cryptographic techniques, while currently effective, are vulnerable to emerging quantum computing technologies that threaten to render classical encryption obsolete. This paper explores the integration of quantum-safe cryptographic techniques within IoT networks to ensure long-term confidentiality, integrity, and authentication. It examines post-quantum cryptographic primitives, including lattice-based, hash-based, multivariate, and code-based schemes, and evaluates their suitability for resource-constrained IoT environments. The study focuses on lightweight implementation strategies, balancing computational efficiency with robust security requirements. Simulation analyses demonstrate that properly optimized quantum safe protocols can provide resilient encryption, key exchange, and digital signature functionalities without overwhelming device resources. Furthermore, the integration of these techniques with IoT communication standards and secure network protocols ensures end-to-end protection across heterogeneous networks. Challenges such as latency, energy consumption, and scalability are addressed, highlighting the necessity of tailored cryptographic solutions for diverse IoT applications. The findings confirm that quantum safe cryptography is essential for future-proofing IoT networks, offering sustainable security measures that remain resilient against both classical and quantum adversaries, thereby supporting the continued expansion of secure and intelligent interconnected systems.
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.
Traditional encryption techniques face serious threats from the rapid development of quantum computing, which could soon compromise many classical algorithms. To address this, new quantum-resistant security methods are needed to protect private data and communications. This paper proposes a hybrid encryption approach that integrates quantum key distribution (QKD) with a simplified 3×3 advanced encryption standard (AES) key matrix, creating a lightweight system. The objective is to provide an efficient encryption method suitable for devices with limited processing power, such as IoT devices. The model was simulated using Qiskit, achieving an average quantum bit error rate of 0.00%, protocol efficiency of 49.72 %, and quantum fidelity of 1.000 under certain conditions. During eavesdropping scenarios, the error rate increased to 16.90 %. The simplified AES achieved a 50.14 % avalanche effect and an encryption time of 0.3073 ms, reducing latency by 17 % compared to standard AES. These results suggest that combining QKD with lightweight AES can provide quantum resilience and computational efficiency, offering a practical solution for secure communication in the post-quantum era.