The rapid evolution of 5G and emerging 6G telecom networks introduces new security challenges due to the potential threat posed by quantum computing to conventional cryptographic algorithms. This study proposes a post-quantum cryptographic framework for protecting critical 5G and 6G telecom infrastructure against quantum-enabled attacks. The framework investigates quantum-resistant cryptographic mechanisms for secure key establishment, authentication, data confidentiality, and communication integrity. Performance is evaluated using key size, encryption and decryption time, computational overhead, latency, and throughput. The proposed approach aims to achieve a balance between quantum resistance and network efficiency, providing a scalable and resilient security solution for next-generation wireless communication environments.
The rapid evolution of 5G and emerging 6G telecom networks introduces new security challenges due to the potential threat posed by quantum computing to conventional cryptographic algorithms. This study proposes a post-quantum cryptographic framework for protecting critical 5G and 6G telecom infrastructure against quantum-enabled attacks. The framework investigates quantum-resistant cryptographic mechanisms for secure key establishment, authentication, data confidentiality, and communication integrity. Performance is evaluated using key size, encryption and decryption time, computational overhead, latency, and throughput. The proposed approach aims to achieve a balance between quantum resistance and network efficiency, providing a scalable and resilient security solution for next-generation wireless communication environments.
The potential of the swift development of quantum computing is an extreme danger to the traditional cryptographic programs, and they are the foundation of the modern communication infrastructure. RSA and ECC are classical public-key algorithms that can be successfully quantum-attacked, in particular, Shor's algorithm can easily factor large integers and calculate discrete logarithms (Bernstein et al., 2017). The Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) has become the key to secure the next-generation communication networks against these threats, which relies on lattice problem-based algorithms, hash-based based algorithms, multivariate polynomials-based algorithms, and code-based cryptography. The paper examines the concepts, design, and implementation issues of PQC within current network infrastructure focusing on the secure transmission of data, authentication, and key management in the upcoming 5G and 6G networks. The approach will include the survey of existing algorithms of PQC, model the integration of protocol in the communication systems and test computational efficiency, security strength, and scalability. It has been found that PQC is suitable to protect network communications against quantum attackers, and achieves reasonable performance, though trade-offs can be seen in terms of computation overhead, key size, and latency. The research offers understanding to the researcher, network engineers and policy makers in order to adopt quantum resistant cryptography protocols to secure the confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of information in the future communication networks.
Quantum computing is a rapidly developing field with the potential to revolutionize many industries. However, it also poses a serious threat to the security of future networks as current communications rely on encryption to protect data from unauthorized access, which could be broken by quantum computers in the future. This means that they could be used to attack future networks like Beyond 5G (B5G) and Sixth Generation (6G) which are expected to be much more widely used than previous generations of networks. There are a number of things that can be done to mitigate the quantum threat to future networks. One approach is to develop new encryption algorithms, Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), that are resistant to quantum computers. Another approach is to use Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to create secure keys that cannot be broken by quantum computers. This work examines the current state of quantum and post-quantum cryptography and their applications in upcoming generations of wireless networks such as 6G, and the challenges that might arise for their implementation. Additionally, a new isogeny-based post-quantum cryptographic scheme is presented. This paper aims to advance and contribute to the research and development of quantum security in future networks.
The emergence of quantum computing is expected to break many conventional cryptographic algorithms currently used for authentication and secure communication. Existing security mechanisms in Next Generation Networks (NGNs), including 5G, IoT, smart healthcare, and cloud-based systems, are increasingly vulnerable to future quantum attacks. This research presents a lightweight and efficient Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) based authentication framework specifically designed for next generation network environments. The proposed framework combines quantum-resistant cryptographic techniques with optimized authentication procedures to provide secure identity verification, confidential communication, and attack resistance with minimal computational complexity. The model emphasizes reduced overhead, faster authentication response, and scalability for resource-constrained devices. Security analysis shows that the framework can effectively defend against replay attacks, impersonation attacks, session hijacking, and quantum-based cryptanalytic threats. Experimental evaluation indicates that the proposed approach achieves improved security performance while maintaining low latency and reduced resource consumption, making it suitable for practical deployment in future intelligent communication networks.
As 5G networks mature and 6G technologies emerge, the integrity of log data becomes increasingly critical for network security, forensic analysis, and regulatory compliance. The advent of quantum computing poses unprecedented threats to current cryptographic mechanisms protecting log integrity in mobile network infrastructures. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of quantum threats to existing log integrity systems and proposes a novel quantum-resilient framework for maintaining tamper-evident logging in 5G/6G networks. We examine post-quantum cryptographic solutions, including lattice-based algorithms, blockchain integration, and hybrid approaches combining traditional and quantum-safe mechanisms. Our framework addresses key challenges including forward security, crash recovery, and real-time performance requirements while maintaining compatibility with existing 5G/6G protocol stacks. Through theoretical analysis and performance evaluation, we demonstrate that quantum-resilient log integrity can be achieved without compromising network performance, providing a foundation for secure next-generation mobile communications.
The rapid expansion of 5G wireless networks has introduced unprecedented security challenges, particularly in the face of emerging quantum computing threats. Traditional cryptographic schemes, including Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), face vulnerabilities against quantum-based attacks, necessitating a transition toward quantum-resistant security solutions. A hybrid cryptographic framework incorporating CRYSTALS-Kyber for key encapsulation is proposed to mitigate these threats. CRYSTALS-Kyber, a lattice-based post-quantum cryptographic algorithm, enhances key exchange mechanisms by resisting quantum decryption attempts while maintaining computational efficiency. The proposed framework integrates CRYSTALS-Kyber with conventional ECC to establish a dual-layer security model that ensures backward compatibility while progressively adapting to quantum security standards. Simulation results demonstrate that the hybrid approach significantly enhances key exchange security while maintaining a low computational overhead. In particular, latency is reduced by 18.4% compared to standalone ECC-based key exchange, while key generation time improves by 22.7% due to CRYSTALS-Kyber’s efficient polynomial arithmetic operations. Furthermore, encryption throughput increases by 31.2%, demonstrating the model''s capability to secure high-speed 5G transmissions with minimal performance trade-offs.
The advent of 6G terahertz (THz) communication networks offers unparalleled data rates and ultra-dense device connectivity but introduces tremendous vulnerabilities to quantum computing attacks. Conventional cryptographic techniques such as RSA and ECC are becoming increasingly vulnerable to quantum attacks and are thus a serious threat to network integrity and data confidentiality. The research here addresses the challenge of protecting 6G-THz networks from quantum adversaries by designing a quantum-resilient cryptographic protocol for ultra-dense network scenarios. The main objective is to offer resilient, scalable, and low-latency encryption and authentication to enable high-throughput THz communications. The system leverages lattice-based post-quantum cryptography combined with a light-weight key distribution protocol and hierarchical identity management to support massive device connectivity. The novelty lies in the adaptive blending of post-quantum primitives optimized to the bandwidth and latency limitations inherent in THz systems, combined with context-aware key negotiation to remove quantum threats in real time. The protocol significantly enhances future network resilience in quantum-enabled adversarial networks.