Securing Group Patient Communication in 6G-Aided Dynamic Ubiquitous Healthcare with Real-Time Mobile DNA Sequencing

Area of Science:

• Genomics and Bioinformatics
• Telecommunications Engineering
• Cybersecurity

Background:

• Third-generation sequencing (TGS) offers long DNA reads and rapid sequencing, enabling mobile DNA sequencing for ubiquitous healthcare (U-healthcare) via the Internet of Living Things (IoLT).
• 6G technology is crucial for facilitating advanced communications in intelligent U-healthcare IoLT systems.
• Existing single user-server architectures fail to support group communication (multiple patients-server or patient-patient) and lack security over the open Internet for sensitive health data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a dynamic group-based, patient-authenticated key distribution protocol for 6G-aided U-healthcare services.
• To enable secure communication within healthcare groups using a server-distributed common session key.
• To facilitate secure connections between patients and service providers, or among patients themselves.

Main Methods:

• Development of a dynamic group-based key distribution protocol.
• Implementation of a three-factor authentication mechanism.
• Integration of a sequencing-device-based single sign-on (SD-SSO) solution.
• Security robustness verification using established tools and semantic discussion.

Main Results:

• The proposed protocol ensures secure group key distribution with a three-factor authentication and SD-SSO.
• It supports patient-centered services across multiple mobile devices using traceable server data.
• Security analysis confirms robustness, and performance evaluation indicates enhanced functionality with reasonable overhead compared to existing methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed protocol effectively addresses security and privacy concerns in 6G-aided U-healthcare IoLT systems.
• It provides a secure and efficient solution for group communication in mobile DNA sequencing-based healthcare.
• The approach enhances U-healthcare services by enabling secure, authenticated, and patient-centered interactions.