Quantum-Secure Communication for Trusted Edge Computing with IoT Devices

Internet-of-Things(IoT)-based edge computing in smart factories, smart grid, agriculture, constructions and autonomous vehicles include service-oriented gateways that connect with the cloud, perform machine-to-machine communication, often transmiting large amount data up and down the network, performing time-sensitive processing and involving intelligent local decision-making. In view of a sharp increase in cyberattacks today targeting edge computing, these gateways need to provide digital signing and key negotiation for ensuring reliable data sources, trusted applications and authentic devices and connections. In contrast to common perception, we show that post-quantum cryptography methods do not necessitate extensive modification to adopt in such environments; further, the cryptography algorithm’s hardness is preserved while fulfilling the IoT device’s resource limitations. In particular, we demonstrate an efficient method and an implementation on a 32-bit ARMCortex-M4, 64KB memory microcontroller, based on post-quantum key encapsulation mechanisms (KEMs), for secure communication and authentication in an industrial IoT environment.