Quantum-Safe Authentication Protocol Using Post-Quantum Key Encapsulation Mechanism for Transportation Systems

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology into transportation systems holds immense potential to transform the way we move people and goods, offering benefits such as increased efficiency, reduced emissions, improved safety, and enhanced user experience. With the ubiquitous and high-speed connectivity, sixth-generation (6G) technology is envisaged to make unprecedented revolutions in several fields and applications including IoT applications and transportation systems. The convergence of 6G networks with these applications will provide seamless connectivity and help to integrate functionalities such as sensing, communication, and computing, resulting in superior service quality. However, the IoT network is highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. With the recent developments in quantum computers and quantum algorithms, it is important to make them secure from quantum attacks as well. In this paper, we propose a quantum-safe authentication protocol using a Post-Quantum Key Encapsulation Mechanism (PQKEM) for IoT applications in transportation systems. The protocol is built using CRYSTALS-Kyber, a lattice-based PQKEM, selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in round 3 of the post-quantum standardization process. We provide a formal security proof of the proposed authentication protocol using the Real-Or-Random (RoR) model. We also present a performance analysis of the proposed authentication protocol.