The Internet of Things (IoT) has ushered in significant advancements in networked technologies, yet it simultaneously raises concerns about the security and privacy of connected devices. Traditional authentication methods based on cryptographic protocols are increasingly vulnerable to attacks as the number of devices grows and attackers develop more sophisticated strategies. In this paper, we propose a novel quantum-based authentication method using Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions (QPUFs) to address the security challenges in IoT devices. Quantum PUFs exploit the inherent quantum properties of devices to generate unique, unclonable responses to challenges, providing a high level of security and resilience against attacks such as cloning, spoofing, and interception. We present the architecture of the proposed quantum authentication system, discuss the challenge-response protocol, and evaluate the system’s performance. Experimental results show that this approach offers strong security guarantees with minimal computational overhead. We Evaluate the Security, Scalability of our approach in simulated adverse IoT environment.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has ushered in significant advancements in networked technologies, yet it simultaneously raises concerns about the security and privacy of connected devices. Traditional authentication methods based on cryptographic protocols are increasingly vulnerable to attacks as the number of devices grows and attackers develop more sophisticated strategies. In this paper, we propose a novel quantum-based authentication method using Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions (QPUFs) to address the security challenges in IoT devices. Quantum PUFs exploit the inherent quantum properties of devices to generate unique, unclonable responses to challenges, providing a high level of security and resilience against attacks such as cloning, spoofing, and interception. We present the architecture of the proposed quantum authentication system, discuss the challenge-response protocol, and evaluate the system’s performance. Experimental results show that this approach offers strong security guarantees with minimal computational overhead. We Evaluate the Security, Scalability of our approach in simulated adverse IoT environment.
With the increase of digital devices, the need for robust authentication mechanisms has become crucial. Traditional methods relying on cryptographic key management are susceptible to various risks, particularly the exposure of keys to interception or theft. As cyber threats evolve, the short-comings of these methods are accentuated, necessitating more secure solutions. Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) have emerged as a potential alternative, utilizing inherent hardware variations for device authentication without stored secrets. However, recent studies reveal vulnerabilities in conventional PUF implementations. Simultaneously, there's a growing recognition for authentication mechanisms tailored for quantum devices. This recognition has prompted the exploration of Quantum PUFs (QPUFs), which represent a promising solution to enhance security and reliability, leveraging the unique properties of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we propose a novel approach using QPUFs for device authentication that does not require any quantum communication channel or even quantum memory. We design a quantum circuit to serve as a QPUF, evaluating metrics such as instability, randomness, and uniqueness. Additionally, we devise an authentication scheme that exploits the challenge-response paradigm, taking advantage of the distinctive properties of quantum PUFs. Furthermore, we delineate a threat model to identify and mitigate potential risks associated with the authentication process. By assessing the proposed QPUFs efficacy on real real quantum hardware provided by IBM, this research contributes to the advancement of secure authentication protocols in quantum era.
With the rapid development of quantum computing, in response to its disruptive threats to traditional cryptosystems and the urgent demand for lightweight and highly scalable secure group communication among resource-constrained devices in large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios, this paper proposes a lightweight anonymous group authentication scheme that integrates Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), distributed Gossip algorithms, and quantum key distribution. By exploiting the uniqueness and unclonability derived from the inherent physical characteristics of PUF hardware, the scheme fundamentally eliminates attack vectors against quantum computers without requiring devices to pre-store any secret keys in their memory, while the QKCS pre-provisions CRPs and key seeds, which is the standard enrollment procedure in PUF-based systems. Combined with information-theoretically secure quantum keys as session keys, it forms a dual protection mechanism: anti-forgery at the physical layer and anti-quantum attack at the cryptographic layer. Innovatively, the Gossip algorithm is deeply integrated with group key agreement, converting global broadcast into local iterative interactions between nodes, which effectively alleviates broadcast storms and improves the scalability and fault tolerance of the protocol. Meanwhile, a pseudonym mechanism is introduced to achieve anonymous identity protection, and a dynamic key update strategy guarantees forward and backward security when members join or leave the group. Formal verification based on BAN logic and security analysis show that the proposed protocol can resist typical attacks such as replay attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and impersonation attacks. Performance evaluations demonstrate that our scheme outperforms existing comparable schemes in terms of computational cost, communication overhead, and dynamic group management efficiency, demonstrating its potential for resource-constrained IoT environments, pending further validation on real hardware platforms.
Internet of Things (IoT) peripheral devices typically operate in resource-constrained environments and platform enclosures. This poses challenges when attempting to secure data traffic between operators and field devices. Due to the resource-intensive nature and/or stringent (e.g., connectivity) requirements of current encryption techniques, many prove infeasible to use within an IoT Edge network. In this work, we have developed a hardware-based attestation and authentication solution for IoT devices operating within constrained Edge environments where compute resource can be scarce, connectivity intermittent, environmental conditions uncontrolled, and accessibility limited. This is achieved through the use of an array of Resonant Tunneling Diodes (RTDs) that facilitate the generation of a ’strong’ Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) from a limited number of RTDs, reducing the device footprint and resource requirements. Comprehensive statistical analysis of the response of the array to external excitation has shown that the proposed RTD-based PUF can produce a suitably random, yet repeatable, and most importantly unclonable response to a given challenge. Thus, demonstrating the validity of the proposed solution for use within key generation or device authentication of assets within the IoT network.
As quantum technologies advance, ensuring secure authentication of quantum devices has become increasingly important. Existing methods, often relying on stored cryptographic keys, are vulnerable to physical and side-channel attacks. Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions (QPUFs) offer a promising alternative by leveraging quantum phenomena such as superposition, entanglement, and quantum noise to produce unique, unclonable responses. However, many existing QPUF designs are based on simulations or report only idealized, best-case results. This work presents and evaluates a set of QPUF circuits on IBM’s real quantum hardware, assessing their performance in terms of instability, randomness, and uniqueness to identify the most effective configurations. Our results show that specific configurations can achieve a positive balance between stability and device distinguishability, reaching 0.05 instability, 0.48 uniqueness, and 0.75 randomness. These findings provide a solid foundation for implementing robust authentication protocols tailored for quantum devices in real-world settings.
Quantum Physically Unclonable Functions (QPUFs) are emerging hardware primitives that harness inherent quantum principle to produce device-specific challenge–response behavior. By embedding quantum-mechanical "fingerprints" into devices, QPUFs can derive unique cryptographic keys and identities, yielding robust hardware roots of trust. This paper systematically reviews QPUF principles, architectures, and security properties, and explores their integration into next-generation networking paradigms with industrial demonstrations. We detail how QPUFs can enable secure device authentication, key generation across quantum communication links, 6G wireless, IoT/edge deployments emphasizing practical implementation strategies and system integration in future networks along with technical challenges. Through this comprehensive analysis, we highlight the transformative potential of QPUFs in delivering hardware-rooted, information-theoretic security for interconnected networks, and outline directions for further research.
This work presents a Quantum Computing based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF) architecture with a novel approach for PUF key generation and noise reduction in noisy Quantum systems. The motivation is to explore the potential of Quantum Computing assisted cybersecurity for Security-by-Design (SbD) of Industrial-Internet-of-Things (IIoT). Internet-of-Things (IoT) in Industry 4.0 can improve efficiency, increase automation, and facilitate intelligent decision making through the integration of edge cloud computing paradigms. However, the lack of standardization of security protocols across IIoT devices can be challenging due to the heterogeneous nature of these devices. In this context, a novel Quantum circuits based PUF design that is built on real Quantum hardware is presented. The proposed QPUF can facilitate security in IIoT by using a Quantum hardware generated PUF key as the device identity. The proposed PUF Design is built using Quantum Hadamard Gate, and Ry gates and has been experimentally demonstrated on IBM Quantum hardware systems. The proposed architecture also supports PUF key generation from Quantum hardware for security applications. Figures-of-merits (FoM) of PUF have been evaluated and presented to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed Quantum PUF for SbD of IIoT.