Edge computing has emerged as a distributed computing technology to mitigate the cloud computing overload caused by the rapid increase in connected devices. However, because communications between devices and edge servers are conducted over public channels, authentication and secure session key establishment are imperative to protect against various security attacks. In this paper, we show that Kenioua et al.’s authentication scheme for edge computing is vulnerable to several attacks such as impersonation, offline password guessing, and stolen verifier attacks, and also lacking quantum resistance against the emerging threat posed by quantum computing. To overcome these limitations, we propose a quantum-resistant authentication scheme by adopting module lattice-based key encapsulation mechanism (ML-KEM). We demonstrate the robustness of the proposed scheme through “the Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic”, “Quantum Random Oracle Model (QROM)”, “Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Application (AVISPA) tool”, and “Scyther tool”, and show that the proposed scheme achieves security with efficient communication and computation costs by comparing it with related studies.
Edge computing has emerged as a distributed computing technology to mitigate the cloud computing overload caused by the rapid increase in connected devices. However, because communications between devices and edge servers are conducted over public channels, authentication and secure session key establishment are imperative to protect against various security attacks. In this paper, we show that Kenioua et al.’s authentication scheme for edge computing is vulnerable to several attacks such as impersonation, offline password guessing, and stolen verifier attacks, and also lacking quantum resistance against the emerging threat posed by quantum computing. To overcome these limitations, we propose a quantum-resistant authentication scheme by adopting module lattice-based key encapsulation mechanism (ML-KEM). We demonstrate the robustness of the proposed scheme through “the Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic”, “Quantum Random Oracle Model (QROM)”, “Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Application (AVISPA) tool”, and “Scyther tool”, and show that the proposed scheme achieves security with efficient communication and computation costs by comparing it with related studies.
With the rapid development of quantum computers, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) has become critical technology in the security field. PQC includes cryptographic techniques that are secure against quantum-computer-based attacks, utilizing methods such as code-based, isogeny-based, and lattice-based approaches. Among these, lattice-based cryptography is the most extensively studied due to its ease of implementation and efficiency. As quantum computing advances, the need for secure communication protocols that can withstand quantum computer-based threats becomes increasingly important. Traditional two-party AKE protocols have a significant limitation: the security of the entire system can be compromised if either of the communicating parties behaves maliciously. To overcome this limitation, researchers have proposed three-party AKE protocols, where a third party acts as an arbiter or verifier. However, we found that a recently proposed three-party AKE protocol is vulnerable to quantum-computer-based attacks. To address this issue, we propose a provably quantum secure three-party AKE protocol based on MLWE. The proposed scheme leverages the user’s biometric information and the server’s master key to prevent the exposure of critical parameters. We analyzed the security of the protocol using simulation tools such as the Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic, Real-or-Random (RoR) model, and Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA). Furthermore, comparative analysis with similar protocols demonstrates that our protocol is efficient and suitable.
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.
The emergence and growth of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) have transformed the way healthcare services are delivered, but this growth comes with its own security challenges, especially with the emergence of quantum computing. This paper presents a lightweight, privacy-preserving authentication scheme for edge-based IoMT environments, integrating CRYSTALS-Kyber Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) to securely establish session keys between participating entities and resilience against quantum attacks, while CRYSTALS-Dilithium is utilized as the digital signature scheme to ensure message integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation. These NIST-standardized post-quantum primitives collectively strengthen the system's resistance against quantum adversaries and enhance overall cryptographic robustness. The proposed system comprises two phases: Registration and Authentication. During registration, patients, wearable devices that utilize Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs), and medical specialists register with a Trusted Authority via edge nodes. The authentication phase encompasses mutual authentication among patients, devices, medical specialists, edge nodes, and cloud servers, ensuring that only authorized entities access sensitive health information. In addition, the proposed scheme employs the formal security properties, such as authenticity and secrecy, are verified using the AVISPA tool under the Dolev-Yao model, with results confirming that all defined goals are achieved and no attacks are found. Performance evaluations indicate that the scheme is computationally efficient and suitable for resource-constrained IoMT devices. Furthermore, BAN logic is employed to formally verify the correctness of the authentication protocol, demonstrating that mutual authentication is securely established among the participating entities under well-defined trust assumptions. By integrating post-quantum cryptographic techniques, this authentication framework addresses emerging security challenges posed by quantum computing, aligning with the objectives of enhancing edge-based consumer electronics devices and Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems with post-quantum cryptosystems.
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.
The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems has introduced significant security challenges due to resource-constrained devices, heterogeneous network architectures, and largescale connectivity. Traditional authentication and key exchange mechanisms, primarily based on classical cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECC, are vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks. The emergence of quantum algorithms, particularly Shor’s algorithm, threatens the long-term confidentiality and integrity of IoT communications. This paper proposes a Quantum-Resistant Authentication and Key Exchange Protocol specifically designed for secure IoT architectures. The proposed framework integrates post-quantum cryptographic primitives, including lattice-based key exchange mechanisms and hash-based authentication schemes, optimized for low computational overhead suitable for constrained IoT devices. The protocol ensures mutual authentication, forward secrecy, and resistance against quantum adversaries while maintaining minimal communication latency. Security analysis demonstrates robustness against replay, man-in-the-middle, and key-compromise attacks. Performance evaluation shows that the proposed solution achieves a balance between quantum security strength and resource efficiency, making it suitable for next-generation IoT deployments in smart cities, healthcare systems, and industrial automation.
The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in consumer applications has significantly improved automation and user experiences. However, it has introduced emerging security challenges, particularly AI-driven adversarial attacks. Conventional cryptographic mechanisms are increasingly susceptible to these attacks and to the growing risks associated with quantum computing. To mitigate these challenges, this paper presents an AI-enabled, adversarial attack-resistant, post-quantum secure authentication protocol designed for consumer applications. The proposed protocol combines post-quantum lattice-based cryptographic techniques to provide strong and adaptive user authentication against evolving threats. Comprehensive formal security analysis and experimental evaluations confirm that the protocol effectively mitigates quantum and adversarial attacks, including classical attacks, while maintaining comparable computational and communication overhead with the existing competing authentication schemes. As a result, the proposed scheme becomes ideal for resource-constrained consumer environments, such as smart devices, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, and mobile platforms. Finally, an experimental investigation on radio frequency fingerprinting for consumer devices is conducted using an AI-driven model called TinyMLP, and our model achieves ≈ 97% authentication accuracy by resisting adversarial attacks.