۱- Introduction

۲- Proposed framework for 5G networks based on quantum technologies

۳- Theoretical background of quantum walks

۴- Quantum Hash function schemes

۵- Security protocols for 5G networks based on proposed QHFs

۶- Experimental analysis and results for QWHFs

۷- Security analysis for the proposed authenticated protocols

۸- Concluding remarks

References

Abstract

Fifth generation (5G) networks aim at utilizing many promising communication technologies, such as Cloud Computing, Network Slicing, and Software Defined Networking. Supporting a massive number of connected devices with 5G advanced technologies and innovating new techniques will surely bring tremendous challenges for trust, security and privacy. Therefore, secure mechanisms and protocols are required as the basis for 5G networks to address this security challenges and follow security-by-design but also security-by-operations rules. In this context, new efficient cryptographic protocols and mechanisms are needed in order to design and achieve information sharing and data protection protocols in 5G networks. In the literature, several security schemes based on unproven assumptions of computational complexity and mathematical models were proposed. However, the cryptanalysis is able to break most of the existing proposals in the presence of several weakest links in the designs. Recently, quantum walks (QWs) have been introduced as an excellent mechanism for generating cryptographic keys due to its nonlinear chaotic dynamical performance, high sensitivity to initial control parameters, stability and very large key space theoretically strong enough to resist various known attacks. This paper firstly proposes two efficient hash function mechanisms for 5G networks applications based on QWs, namely QWHF-1 and QWHF-2. Then, based on these hash functions, two efficient security protocols for securing data in 5G network scenario are proposed. Performance analyses and simulation results show that the proposed approaches are characterized with high security, efficiency, and robustness against several well-known attacks which nominate them as excellent candidates for securing 5G applications.

Introduction

With the growth and vast progress of fourth generation (4G) networks, it is reasonable to expect that fifth generation (5G) networks will deliver a wide range of high-quality services [1]. It is envisioned that 5G networks will provide significantly higher data bandwidth and massive networking capacities resulting in unfaltering user experiences. Internet of Things (IoT) has been protruding as an integrated part of 5G networks [2–۱۲] , which considers a concept reflecting a connected set of anything, anyone, anyplace, anytime, any service, and any network. In the context of 5G networks, IoT devices are becoming active players with capabilities to communicate and interact with heterogeneous devices, sensors, services, applications, data providers and IoT-enabled ecosystems. IoT aims at integrating the physical and virtual worlds using 5G networks as a medium to communicate and exchange information. 5G networks are envisioned to have a central role in our daily life. Moreover, 5G networks aim at combining many promising network technologies such as Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), InformationCentric Network (ICN), Network Slicing, and Cloud Computing, among others. On the one hand, this can be seen as a great opportunity for improvements while on the other hand such integration can result in new, enormous privacy and security challenges for 5G networks [13–۲۳] . Therefore, secure network architectures and authenticated protocols are required as the basis for 5G networks to address security and privacy problems and follow not only security-by-design but also security-by-operations rules [24–۲۷].