International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
PQ-Secureedge: A Lightweight Lattice-Inspired Post-Quantum Key Encapsulation And Trust-Adaptive Refresh Framework For Zero-Trust Edge-Iot Confidentiality
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a long-term threat to the classical cryptographic primitives, such as elliptic-curve and RSA-based key exchange, that currently secure edge-based Internet of Things (IoT) communication. Adversaries capable of harvesting encrypted traffic today may decrypt it once large-scale quantum computers become available, a risk that is especially acute for long-lived edge deployments. This paper presents PQ-SecureEdge, a lightweight post-quantum extension of a previously established zero-trust adaptive cryptographic model for resource-constrained edge computing networks. PQ-SecureEdge introduces two complementary mechanisms: a Lightweight Modular Key Encapsulation (LMKE) scheme built on simplified learning-with-errors modular arithmetic suited to microcontroller-class IoT hardware, and a Trust-Adaptive Session Refresh (TASR) protocol that ties key-rotation frequency to a device's evolving trust score rather than to fixed intervals. Experimental evaluation on a 100-device, five-edge-node testbed shows that PQ-SecureEdge reduces overall key-exchange latency by 21.5% relative to Kyber-512 and 35.4% relative to NTRU-HPS-2048, while lowering memory footprint by 21.3% relative to Kyber-512. Trust-adaptive refresh further lowers average re-keying energy overhead by 41.2% relative to fixed-interval rotation, without measurable loss of security. Security analysis confirms that PQ-SecureEdge preserves a 128-bit post-quantum security margin comparable to NIST-standardized schemes. Statistical analysis across three comparative evaluations confirms the efficiency and robustness of the proposed extension.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a long-term threat to the classical cryptographic primitives, such as elliptic-curve and RSA-based key exchange, that currently secure edge-based Internet of Things (IoT) communication. Adversaries capable of harvesting encrypted traffic today may decrypt it once large-scale quantum computers become available, a risk that is especially acute for long-lived edge deployments. This paper presents PQ-SecureEdge, a lightweight post-quantum extension of a previously established zero-trust adaptive cryptographic model for resource-constrained edge computing networks. PQ-SecureEdge introduces two complementary mechanisms: a Lightweight Modular Key Encapsulation (LMKE) scheme built on simplified learning-with-errors modular arithmetic suited to microcontroller-class IoT hardware, and a Trust-Adaptive Session Refresh (TASR) protocol that ties key-rotation frequency to a device's evolving trust score rather than to fixed intervals. Experimental evaluation on a 100-device, five-edge-node testbed shows that PQ-SecureEdge reduces overall key-exchange latency by 21.5% relative to Kyber-512 and 35.4% relative to NTRU-HPS-2048, while lowering memory footprint by 21.3% relative to Kyber-512. Trust-adaptive refresh further lowers average re-keying energy overhead by 41.2% relative to fixed-interval rotation, without measurable loss of security. Security analysis confirms that PQ-SecureEdge preserves a 128-bit post-quantum security margin comparable to NIST-standardized schemes. Statistical analysis across three comparative evaluations confirms the efficiency and robustness of the proposed extension.
The emergence of quantum computing threatens classical cryptographic systems, including RSA and ECC, potentially compromising the security of pervasive Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. Resourceconstrained IoT devices—such as sensors, embedded controllers, and microcontrollers—face significant challenges in adopting post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) protocols due to computational, memory, and energy limitations. This paper proposes AQ-PQC, an adaptive lightweight hybrid key exchange protocol combining Kyber lattice-based KEM and lightweight elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), specifically designed for constrained devices. AQ-PQC introduces a dynamic parameter tuning algorithm that adjusts key sizes, handshake rounds, and compression ratios based on real-time device state and network conditions. Formal security analysis under the IND-CCA model demonstrates quantum-resistance and forward secrecy. Extensive hardware implementation on Raspberry Pi 4 and ESP32 devices reveals a significant reduction in handshake latency, energy consumption, and memory footprint compared to conventional PQC protocols. The proposed framework provides a practical, reproducible, and secure methodology for post-quantum IoT communications, supporting heterogeneous and resource-limited networks.
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.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a critical threat to classical cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECC, particularly in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, where secure communication is essential but often constrained by limited computational resources. This paper investigates the feasibility of deploying post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms on resource-constrained devices. In particular, we implement three PQC algorithms - BIKE, CRYSTALS-Kyber, and HQC - on a lightweight IoT platform built with Raspberry Pi devices. Leveraging the Open Quantum Safe (liboqs) library in conjunction with mbedTLS, we develop quantumsecure key exchange protocols, and evaluate their performance in terms of computational overhead, memory usage, and energy consumption for quantum secure communication. Experimental results demonstrate that the integration of PQC algorithms on constrained hardware is practical, reinforcing the urgent need for quantum-resilient cryptographic frameworks in next-generation IoT devices. The implementation of this paper is available at https://iqsec-lab.github.io/PQC-IoT/.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a critical threat to classical cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECC, particularly in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, where secure communication is essential but often constrained by limited computational resources. This paper investigates the feasibility of deploying post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms on resource-constrained devices. In particular, we implement three PQC algorithms -- BIKE, CRYSTALS-Kyber, and HQC -- on a lightweight IoT platform built with Raspberry Pi devices. Leveraging the Open Quantum Safe (\texttt{liboqs}) library in conjunction with \texttt{mbedTLS}, we develop quantum-secure key exchange protocols, and evaluate their performance in terms of computational overhead, memory usage, and energy consumption for quantum secure communication. Experimental results demonstrate that the integration of PQC algorithms on constrained hardware is practical, reinforcing the urgent need for quantum-resilient cryptographic frameworks in next-generation IoT devices. The implementation of this paper is available at https://iqsec-lab.github.io/PQC-IoT/.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a critical threat to classical cryptographic algorithms such as RSA and ECC, particularly in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, where secure communication is essential but often constrained by limited computational resources. This paper investigates the feasibility of deploying post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms on resource-constrained devices. In particular, we implement three PQC algorithms - BIKE, CRYSTALS-Kyber, and HQC - on a lightweight IoT platform built with Raspberry Pi devices. Leveraging the Open Quantum Safe (liboqs) library in conjunction with mbedTLS, we develop quantumsecure key exchange protocols, and evaluate their performance in terms of computational overhead, memory usage, and energy consumption for quantum secure communication. Experimental results demonstrate that the integration of PQC algorithms on constrained hardware is practical, reinforcing the urgent need for quantum-resilient cryptographic frameworks in next-generation IoT devices. The implementation of this paper is available at https://iqsec-lab.github.io/PQC-IoT/.
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.