With the progress of quantum computing, medical institutions that use classical public-key cryptography to secure the confidentiality of long-lasting and delicate healthcare information are facing great security challenges.This research aims to suggest a policy framework for Post-Quantum Cryptographic Policy (PQCP) to facilitate systematic shift of healthcare infrastructures to quantum resistant infrastructure security.It seamlessly combines cryptographic asset discovery, quantum-risk assessment, asset prioritization, cryptoagility, hybrid cryptographic migration, secure key management, governance, compliance monitoring, and ongoing security evaluation.It covers electronic health records, healthcare platforms in the cloud, medical imaging, telemedicine applications and resource-limited Internet of Medical Things devices.A risk-oriented migration strategy gives institutions the ability to prioritize systems based on the amount of data in a system, the vulnerabilities of the cryptographic functions used, the clinical criticality of the system, and the length of time the information must be kept confidential.There are hybrid (classical and post-quantum) mechanisms for gradual migration and interoperability or clinical continuity.Finally, the suggested framework offers a structured approach to enhance the preparedness of healthcare institutions, adherence to regulations, resilience against cryptographic attacks, and long-term protection of healthcare information from the evolving quantum cybersecurity landscape.
With the progress of quantum computing, medical institutions that use classical public-key cryptography to secure the confidentiality of long-lasting and delicate healthcare information are facing great security challenges.This research aims to suggest a policy framework for Post-Quantum Cryptographic Policy (PQCP) to facilitate systematic shift of healthcare infrastructures to quantum resistant infrastructure security.It seamlessly combines cryptographic asset discovery, quantum-risk assessment, asset prioritization, cryptoagility, hybrid cryptographic migration, secure key management, governance, compliance monitoring, and ongoing security evaluation.It covers electronic health records, healthcare platforms in the cloud, medical imaging, telemedicine applications and resource-limited Internet of Medical Things devices.A risk-oriented migration strategy gives institutions the ability to prioritize systems based on the amount of data in a system, the vulnerabilities of the cryptographic functions used, the clinical criticality of the system, and the length of time the information must be kept confidential.There are hybrid (classical and post-quantum) mechanisms for gradual migration and interoperability or clinical continuity.Finally, the suggested framework offers a structured approach to enhance the preparedness of healthcare institutions, adherence to regulations, resilience against cryptographic attacks, and long-term protection of healthcare information from the evolving quantum cybersecurity landscape.
Healthcare systems increasingly depend on interoperable electronic health records, picture archiving and communication systems, cloud analytics, remote monitoring, and connected medical devices. These workflows create a long-lived confidentiality problem: clinical, genomic, pediatric, psychiatric, and family-linked data may remain sensitive for decades, whereas the public-key algorithms that protect current transport and identity systems are vulnerable to future cryptographically relevant quantum computers. Shor's algorithm threatens RSA, finite-field Diffie-Hellman, elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman, and elliptic-curve signatures, while Grover's algorithm reduces the effective security margin of symmetric primitives. This review validates the post-quantum transition pathway for healthcare and distinguishes software-deployable post-quantum cryptography from hardware-specialized quantum key distribution. We summarize the standardized NIST primitives, correct the status of Falcon/FN-DSA as a FIPS 206 algorithm still in development, analyze deployment constraints in Internet of Medical Things environments, and map cryptographic migration to healthcare governance. A staged, hybrid, crypto-agile migration strategy is recommended: prioritize long-confidentiality data, inventory cryptographic dependencies, deploy hybrid key establishment at enterprise gateways, reserve QKD for selected high-value fixed links, and require vendor update pathways for clinical devices.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a significant threat to current cryptographic standards, particularly those securing electronic health records (EHRs) in healthcare systems.Traditional encryption methods such as RSA, ECC, and AES, while robust against classical attacks, are vulnerable to quantum algorithms like Shor's and Grover's, which can efficiently break cryptographic keys and compromise patient data integrity.As healthcare systems become increasingly interconnected through the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based infrastructures, the need for quantum-resistant security mechanisms becomes paramount.Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) emerges as a viable solution to future-proof EHR security by employing lattice-based, hash-based, code-based, and multivariate polynomial cryptographic techniques that remain resistant to quantum attacks.This paper explores the implications of quantum computing on healthcare cybersecurity, emphasizing the vulnerabilities of existing encryption protocols and the necessity of transitioning toward PQC frameworks.Furthermore, we examine the integration of PQC within healthcare infrastructures, focusing on key exchange mechanisms, digital signatures, and end-to-end encryption for secure EHR transactions.Additionally, the study highlights regulatory and compliance considerations, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC standardization efforts and the role of Zero Trust security models in mitigating quantum-era cyber risks.Case studies illustrate successful implementations of PQC in healthcare networks, demonstrating its feasibility and effectiveness in safeguarding sensitive medical information.By adopting quantum-resistant cryptographic standards, healthcare institutions can proactively defend against emerging cyber threats, ensuring data confidentiality, integrity, and long-term resilience in the face of quantum computing advancements.
The emergence of cryptographically relevant quantum computing presents a strategic governance challenge for national security because contemporary digital infrastructures depend extensively on public-key cryptographic mechanisms whose long-term security may be threatened by sufficiently capable quantum computers. This research examines post-quantum cryptographic governance as a policy, risk-management, interoperability, and implementation problem rather than solely as a cryptographic algorithm-selection exercise. The study adopts a conceptual research-and-review methodology based exclusively on the supplied literature, using insights from security and privacy, interoperability, digital transformation, standards-based architectures, and emerging technology governance to construct an integrated post-quantum governance framework. Particular attention is given to cryptographic inventory, risk prioritization, migration governance, interoperability, institutional accountability, lifecycle management, and national-security continuity. The analysis indicates that post-quantum readiness requires coordinated governance across technical and organizational layers, with migration decisions guided by asset criticality, data longevity, dependency relationships, and operational constraints. The study further argues that interoperability principles are central to post-quantum migration because cryptographic transitions must coexist with heterogeneous legacy systems and distributed information environments. The proposed framework therefore combines risk assessment, policy development, technical migration, validation, monitoring, and institutional oversight. The research contributes a governance-oriented perspective in which cryptographic agility and standards-based interoperability become strategic national-security capabilities rather than isolated technical controls.
The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a significant threat to classical cryptographic methods used in blockchain-based healthcare systems. Existing security mechanisms such as RSA and ECC are vulnerable to quantum attacks, posing a risk to patient data integrity, confidentiality, and authentication mechanisms. To address this challenge, postquantum cryptographic (PQC) solutions, including lattice-based, hash-based, code-based, and multivariate polynomial-based techniques, have been proposed. This study systematically reviews and classifies PQC methods and their integration into blockchainbased healthcare infrastructures. A three-layer security model is discussed to enhance blockchain resilience against quantum attacks. The study further explores on-chain, off-chain, and crosschain security mechanisms within healthcare applications to ensure secure medical data storage, patient identity management, and interoperability among healthcare providers. The findings suggest that hybrid cryptographic models, combining classical and post-quantum techniques, provide a practical transition strategy for ensuring long-term security in blockchain networks. This research contributes to the field by offering a structured classification of quantum-resistant blockchain security mechanisms and providing insights into future research directions, particularly in the areas of quantum-safe healthcare data management, performance optimization of PQC methods, and the development of quantum-resistant smart contracts.
The convergence of blockchain technology and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) significantly enhances data security and interoperability in healthcare systems. However, emerging quantum computing capabilities pose critical threats to conventional cryptographic algorithms underpinning blockchain security. Moreover, as IoMT devices manage sensitive patient data and perform essential healthcare functions, ensuring robust protection against both classical and quantum attacks has become increasingly urgent. To mitigate these risks, this paper introduces a Post-Quantum Cryptography Integration Framework (PQCIF), designed to protect blockchain-enabled IoMT (BIoMT) systems and infrastructures against classical and quantum attacks. PQ-CIF is a hybrid framework leveraging NIST-standardized post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms combined with conventional public-private key pair cryptography schemes, strategically integrating them within BIoMT architectures for robust long-term security. We provide comprehensive evaluation metrics and present a detailed case study demonstrating the efficacy and minimal overhead of our proposed framework in a simulated healthcare blockchain network.
The increasing digitalization of the healthcare system, driven by electronic health records, medical IoT devices, and AI-aided diagnostics, has significantly expanded the attack surface for cyber threats. Although current cryptographic protocols provide sufficient security against classical adversaries, new developments in quantum computing threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of medical information as never before. Shor’s algorithm could break widely used asymmetric encryption systems, and Grover’s algorithm weakens symmetric ones, which could render modern healthcare security systems obsolete. This review provides an in-depth and organized analysis of the evolving quantum threat environment in healthcare ecosystems and of the need to move toward quantum-resilient security architectures. It synthesizes the existing literature on post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and identifies lattice-based, hash-based, multivariate, and code-based algorithms as potentially viable long-term replacements. Moreover, it examines the cybersecurity issues that quantum-enabled attacks pose to medical IoT systems, clinical decision-support systems, wearable sensors, telemedicine systems, and cloud-based health information exchanges. The review also covers hybrid quantum-classical defenses, quantum key distribution (QKD), quantum random number generation (QRNG), and blockchain-based trust systems that aim to make systems resilient to advanced persistent quantum attacks. This paper identifies key gaps and outlines future research directions for developing quantum-secure medical systems. The results highlight the importance of early adoption of PQC standards and a layered cyber defense approach to protect patient privacy, ensure regulatory compliance, and retain trust in next-generation digital medical data communication.