The Internet of Things (IoT) is gaining ground as a pervasive presence around us by enabling miniaturized “things” with computation and communication capabilities to collect, process, analyze, and interpret information. Consequently, trustworthy data act as fuel for applications that rely on the data generated by these things, for critical decision-making processes, data debugging, risk assessment, forensic analysis, and performance tuning. Currently, secure and reliable data communication in IoT is based on public-key cryptosystems such as the elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC). Nevertheless, the reliance on the security of de-facto cryptographic primitives is at risk of being broken by the impending quantum computers. Therefore, the transition from classical primitives to quantum-safe primitives is indispensable to ensure the overall security of data en route. In this article, we investigate applications of one of the postquantum signatures called hash-based signature (HBS) schemes for the security of IoT devices in the quantum era. We give a succinct overview of the evolution of HBS schemes with an emphasis on their construction parameters and associated strengths and weaknesses. Then, we outline the striking features of HBS schemes and their significance for IoT security in the quantum era. We also investigate the optimal selection of HBS in the IoT networks with respect to their performance-constrained requirements, resource-constrained nature, and design optimization objectives. In addition to ongoing standardization efforts, we also highlight current and future research and deployment challenges along with possible solutions. Finally, we outline the essential measures and recommendations that must be adopted by the IoT ecosystem while preparing for the quantum world.

中文翻译：

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关于基于哈希的签名在量子安全物联网中的作用：当前的解决方案和未来的方向


物联网 (IoT) 通过使微型“物体”具有计算和通信能力来收集、处理、分析和解释信息，正在成为我们周围无处不在的存在。因此，可信数据可以作为依赖这些事物生成的数据的应用程序的燃料，用于关键决策过程、数据调试、风险评估、取证分析和性能调整。目前，物联网中安全可靠的数据通信基于椭圆曲线密码系统（ECC）等公钥密码系统。然而，对事实上的密码原语安全性的依赖面临着被即将到来的量子计算机打破的风险。因此，从经典原语到量子安全原语的过渡对于确保数据传输过程中的整体安全性是必不可少的。在本文中，我们研究了一种称为基于哈希的签名（HBS）方案的后量子签名在量子时代物联网设备安全方面的应用。我们简要概述了 HBS 方案的演变，重点介绍了它们的构造参数以及相关的优缺点。然后，我们概述了 HBS 方案的显着特征及其对量子时代物联网安全的重要性。我们还根据性能受限要求、资源受限性质和设计优化目标研究了物联网网络中 HBS 的最佳选择。除了正在进行的标准化工作之外，我们还强调当前和未来的研究和部署挑战以及可能的解决方案。 最后，我们概述了物联网生态系统在为量子世界做准备时必须采取的基本措施和建议。