Lightweight Anonymous Group Authentication and Quantum-Cloud Key Distribution Based on PUF for Classical Network...

Area of Science:

• Cybersecurity
• Quantum Computing
• Internet of Things (IoT)

Background:

• Quantum computing poses threats to traditional cryptosystems.
• Resource-constrained IoT devices require lightweight, scalable secure communication.
• Existing solutions often lack robustness against quantum attacks or efficient group management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a lightweight, anonymous group authentication scheme resilient to quantum attacks.
• To enhance security and scalability for large-scale IoT group communications.
• To eliminate the need for pre-stored secret keys in devices.

Main Methods:

• Integration of Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) for unique hardware identification.
• Utilization of distributed Gossip algorithms for efficient group key agreement.
• Application of quantum key distribution for information-theoretically secure session keys.
• Implementation of a pseudonym mechanism for anonymous identity protection.

Main Results:

• The scheme provides dual protection: physical layer anti-forgery and cryptographic layer anti-quantum attack.
• Gossip algorithm integration alleviates broadcast storms, improving scalability and fault tolerance.
• Formal verification confirms resistance to replay, man-in-the-middle, and impersonation attacks.
• Performance evaluations show superior efficiency in computational cost, communication overhead, and dynamic group management.

Conclusions:

• The proposed scheme offers a robust, lightweight, and scalable solution for secure group authentication in IoT.
• It effectively addresses the challenges posed by quantum computing threats.
• Demonstrates significant potential for resource-constrained IoT environments, requiring further hardware validation.