QSLT: A Quantum-Based Lightweight Transmission Mechanism against Eavesdropping for IoT Networks

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a promising paradigm for Internet of Things (IoT) networks against eavesdropping attacks. However, classical quantum-based mechanisms are overweight and expensive for resource-constrained IoT devices. That is, the devices need to frequently exchange with the QKD controller via an out-band quantum channel. In this paper, we propose a novel Quantum-based Secure and Lightweight Transmission (QSLT) mechanism to ease the overweight pain for IoT devices against eavesdropping. Particularly, the mechanism predistributes quantum keys into IoT devices with SIM cards. Using one of the keys, QSLT encrypts or decrypts IoT sensitive data. It is noting that an in-band key-selection method is used to negotiate the session key between two different devices. For example, on one IoT device, the in-band method inserts a key-selection field at the end of the encrypted data to indicate the key’s sequence number. After another device receives the data, QSLT extracts the key-selection field and decrypts the data with the selected quantum key stored locally. We implement the proposed mechanism and evaluate its security and transmission performances. Experimental results show that QSLT can transmit IoT data with a lower delay while guaranteeing the security performance. Besides, QSLT also decreases power usage by approximately 58.77% compared with state of the art mechanisms.