Deploying post-quantum cryptography on highly constrained devices remains challenging due to the large key sizes and substantial storage and memory-traffic demands of leading lattice-based schemes. Although constructions such as Kyber, Dilithium, and NTRU offer strong resistance against quantum adversaries, their multi-kilobyte public keys and intensive memory access patterns limit practical adoption in microcontrollers, smart cards, and low-power edge environments. This work proposes a hybrid key-encapsulation mechanism that integrates a compact, seed-generated Module-LWE structure with a quantum-secure hash-based authentication layer. The design employs a small public seed to instantiate lattice matrices on demand via a lightweight pseudorandom generator and incorporates a Merkle-tree commitment to represent compressed auxiliary error information. Additional design considerations—including sparsity-aware secret keys, SIMD-friendly polynomial operations, and cache-efficient decryption paths—are intended to reduce runtime memory usage and computational overhead. The security of the proposed construction is analysed under both Module-LWE and hash-based one-way assumptions, with further consideration of constant-time execution and cache-line alignment to mitigate side-channel risks. This hybrid approach outlines a design pathway toward post-quantum key-encapsulation mechanisms suitable for deployment on memory-limited and energy-constrained platforms.
Deploying post-quantum cryptography on highly constrained devices remains challenging due to the large key sizes and substantial storage and memory-traffic demands of leading lattice-based schemes. Although constructions such as Kyber, Dilithium, and NTRU offer strong resistance against quantum adversaries, their multi-kilobyte public keys and intensive memory access patterns limit practical adoption in microcontrollers, smart cards, and low-power edge environments. This work proposes a hybrid key-encapsulation mechanism that integrates a compact, seed-generated Module-LWE structure with a quantum-secure hash-based authentication layer. The design employs a small public seed to instantiate lattice matrices on demand via a lightweight pseudorandom generator and incorporates a Merkle-tree commitment to represent compressed auxiliary error information. Additional design considerations—including sparsity-aware secret keys, SIMD-friendly polynomial operations, and cache-efficient decryption paths—are intended to reduce runtime memory usage and computational overhead. The security of the proposed construction is analysed under both Module-LWE and hash-based one-way assumptions, with further consideration of constant-time execution and cache-line alignment to mitigate side-channel risks. This hybrid approach outlines a design pathway toward post-quantum key-encapsulation mechanisms suitable for deployment on memory-limited and energy-constrained platforms.
The impending advent of cryptographically relevant quantum computers threatens classical public-key primitives that underpin 5G and IoT security, including key exchange, authentication, and device onboarding. Ultra-dense networks, constrained endpoints, and long device lifetimes heighten exposure to “harvest-now, decrypt-later” risks. Mobile operators and IoT platform providers need migration ready cryptography that fits radio-access latency budgets, scales to billions of low-power nodes, and integrates cleanly with 3GPP and IETF protocols without degrading quality of service. Many post quantum options impose prohibitive bandwidth and compute costs or lack deployment guidance tuned to network slices and massive machine-type communications. We propose a lattice-based encryption and key-encapsulation framework grounded in Module-LWE/LWR assumptions. The design pairs an IND-CCA-secure KEM for control plane bootstrapping with lightweight AEAD for user-plane data, delivered through a hybrid handshake combining classical ECDH with a post-quantum KEM to ensure continuity during transition. Parameter tiers align with eMBB, URLLC, and mMTC device classes. Implementation emphasizes constant-time polynomial arithmetic, NTT-accelerated convolution, centered-binomial noise sampling, public-key compression, and stateless hash-based signatures for attestation. A gNB-assisted enrollment workflow and session-key rotation via 5G NAS/RRC are specified. Analytical modeling and prototype measurements indicate sub-millisecond encapsulation on ARM Cortex-M33 microcontrollers and ~1.5 ms on RAN baseband paths, while handshake message growth remains within existing NAS and RRC budgets. In ns-3 simulations of dense mMTC topologies, the hybrid handshake achieves >99.99% success under 1% packet loss, and energy profiling shows <5% battery impact for weekly rekeying. Security analysis demonstrates resistance to known lattice attacks at NIST Levels 3–5, forward secrecy via ephemeral KEMs, downgrade resistance through authenticated algorithm negotiation, and post compromise security with frequent rekeying.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses an existential threat to classical public-key cryptographic systems, necessitating the transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). However, the deployment of lattice-based PQC schemes such as CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium faces significant challenges including computational complexity, noise sensitivity, resource constraints, and security vulnerabilities. This research presents a comprehensive hybrid quantum-classical optimization framework for efficient and noise-tolerant post-quantum cryptographic systems. The framework addresses three primary objectives: (1) developing a unified hybrid quantum-classical optimization architecture that integrates variational quantum algorithms (VQE, QAOA) and QUBO/Ising formulations with classical PQC primitives based on the Learning With Errors (LWE) and Module-LWE problems; (2) designing noise-tolerant PQC protocols through multi-layer noise modeling that characterizes cryptographic, quantum hardware, and classical implementation noise; and (3) enabling resource-aware deployment on constrained platforms including embedded systems, IoT devices, and edge computing nodes. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the QUBO formulation achieves coefficient ranges suitable for NISQ devices with 99.2% of coefficients within [-1, 1] after normalization. The adaptive partitioning algorithm achieves time-to-solution improvements of 42% for large problem instances compared to classical-only execution. The noise-aware optimization framework achieves decryption failure rate improvements ranging from 2^10.8 to 2^16.8, with combined noise tolerance success rates exceeding 94.56% under severe conditions. Side-channel countermeasures achieve 82.6% reduction in exploitable information leakage, with power leakage correlation reduced from 0.23 to 0.04. The unified Kyber-Dilithium architecture achieves 21% memory savings and 10-11% performance improvements. Reinforcement learning-based scheduling reduces latency by 37% and energy consumption by 39% compared to static scheduling. End-to-end deployment evaluation across smart home, industrial IoT, healthcare, and autonomous vehicle scenarios demonstrates that the hybrid PQC system meets latency and energy requirements while maintaining target security levels. This research provides a practical pathway toward secure communication in the quantum era, bridging the gap between current classical systems and future quantum-enabled solutions.
the rapid advancement of quantum computing introduces substantial risks to classical cryptographic algorithms that rely on number-theoretic problems, such as the Rivest–Shamir–Adleman algorithm and elliptic curve cryptography. These cryptographic primitives are susceptible to polynomial-time quantum algorithms like those proposed by Shor and Grover, thereby endangering the security of contemporary digital infrastructures. In light of these emerging threats, the global cryptographic community is prioritizing the development and deployment of quantum-resistant cryptographic techniques. These include diverse algorithmic families such as those based on lattices, hash functions, error-correcting codes, and multivariate polynomials. Each approach exhibits distinct trade-offs in terms of computational performance, key length, signature size, and long-term resilience. This paper introduces a hybrid cryptographic framework optimized for specific application domains, particularly those with limited computational and energy resources. The proposed architecture strategically combines lattice-based encryption, hash-based digital signatures, and code-based key encapsulation mechanisms to form a unified model for secure data transmission. The architecture is implemented and evaluated across heterogeneous computing environments, including low-power embedded systems and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays. Experimental metrics such as execution latency, computational overhead, memory consumption, and energy efficiency are assessed and benchmarked against traditional single-algorithm deployments. The findings demonstrate that the hybrid approach maintains strong quantum resistance while significantly reducing performance penalties, making it suitable for mobile platforms, Internet of Things environments, and real-time communication systems. Future work should emphasize further fine-tuning for specific industrial domains, standardization of hybrid cryptographic protocols, and integration with artificial intelligence-based adaptive security layers to ensure sustainability in the approaching quantum era.
Current improvements in quantum computing present a substantial challenge to classical cryptographic systems, which typically rely on problems that can be solved in polynomial time using quantum algorithms. Consequently, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has emerged as a promising solution to emerging quantum-based cryptographic challenges. The greatest threat is public-key cryptosystems, which are primarily responsible for key exchanges. In PQC, key encapsulation mechanisms (KEMs) are crucial for securing key exchange protocols, particularly in Internet communication, virtual private networks (VPNs), and secure messaging applications. CRYSTALS-Kyber and NTRU are two well-known PQC KEMs offering robust security in the quantum world. However, even when quantum computers are functional, they are not easily accessible. IoT devices will not be able to utilize them directly, so there will still be a requirement to protect IoT devices from quantum attacks. Concerns such as limited computational power, energy efficiency, and memory constraints in devices such as those used in IoTs, embedded systems, and smart cards limit the use of these techniques in constrained environments. These concerns always arise there. To address this issue, this study conducts a broad comparative analysis of Kyber and NTRU, with special focus on their security, performance, and implementation efficiency in such environments (IOT/constrained environments). In addition, a case study was conducted by applying KEMs to a low-power embedded device to analyze their performance in real-world scenarios. These results offer an important comparison for cyber security engineers and cryptographers who are involved in integrating post-quantum cryptography into resource-constrained devices.
Post-quantum secure communication solutions are needed in engineering areas with distributed, resource-constrained infrastructures, such as Internet of Things (IoT) networks, due to the rapid expansion of quantum computing. The practical deployment of quantum-resistant cryptographic techniques is limited by computing cost, energy inefficiency, and implementation-level side-channel vulnerabilities. Lattice-based and hash-based post-quantum cryptography systems exhibit significant execution latency, large memory footprints, and poor adaptability to diverse device settings. Lack of system-level optimization and adaptive cryptographic selection limits their use in real-time engineering systems, where energy-performance trade-offs and secure execution are crucial. This study offers an adaptive, energy-aware Hybrid Quantum-Resistant Security Framework (HQR-SF) that combines lattice-based key encapsulation with hash-based digital signature techniques to overcome these issues. The HQR-SF’s context-driven cryptographic selection engine configures security primitives depending on anticipated threat level, computing capability, and data sensitivity. A constant-time vectorized polynomial transformation module accelerates modular arithmetic while reducing timing and power-based side-channel leakage. In the case of limited engineering systems, the framework offers a secure end-to-end communication path, complete with hybrid key exchange, authentication and data integrity protection enforcement. The proposed HQR-SF is evaluated within a testbed, which is developed through a simulation, to represent operational constraints of IoT, such as processor capacity and energy limitations. Experimental results reveal that, with a security score of 98.6%, HQR-SF reduces latency, memory consumption, computational cost, communication overhead and energy consumption by 35.93%, 25.64%, 34.55%, 17.65% and 20.10% respectively compared to the baseline approach. The framework is also easily extensible to address a variety of device types and is appropriate for use in future secure engineering infrastructures with scale.
Quantum computing is also posing a serious challenge to the classical cryptographic algorithms like RSA and ECC as they have vulnerability to quantum algorithms such as Shor and Grover. This is a serious problem to Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing systems, where billions of devices work with strict resource constraints in processing power, memory and energy. To resolve this, we are introducing a minimal postquantum cryptography model to be used in edge platforms with constraints on their resources. This framework combines fierce encapsulation of key (Kyber512) on a lattice with traditional ECDH in a hybrid system of key establishment, along with the Ascon AEAD encryption algorithm to provide effective data hiding and integrity provision. Furthermore, rekeying and forward secrecy on a lightweight basis is possible to reconfigure a layer with negligible overhead on a secure transmission with forward secrecy. The experimental data with ARM Cortex-M and RISC-V architectures and 128-bit post-quantum security has shown that the proposed system can reduce the latency by up to 30 percent and the energy usage by up to 35 percent and considerably better throughput than PQC-only implementations. These findings validate the fact that hybrid PQC solutions have the potential to provide high-resistance quantum with minimal overhead and thus are best suited to IoT and edge applications. The paper offers a viable and extensible security design in conformance with the NIST PQC and IETF migration policies, which can support secure communication in the post-quantum era.