Q-Secure-P2-SMA: Quantum-Secure Privacy- Preserving Smart Meter Authentication for Unbreakable Security in Smart Grid

Smart grids, steering an energy revolution through smart metering infrastructure, face cybersecurity threats and unauthorized access risks. Within these systems, classical authentication protocols validate identities, fostering trust and enabling access to authorized resources, while preventing unauthorized access. However, classical authentication protocols are predominantly dependent on public-key cryptography, rooted in computational hard problems such as integer factorization and discrete logs to uphold security. Nevertheless, these computational hard problems can be easily compromised by quantum adversaries. Furthermore, quantum-resistant smart meter authentication protocols are either deemed impractical or reliant on quantum hard problems, potentially lacking future-proof security. Moreover, maintaining SG entity privacy holds equal significance. Consequently, this article introduces the Quantum-Secure Privacy-Preserving Smart Meter Authentication (Q-Secure-P-2-SMA) protocol. It utilizes semi-quantum key distribution and a hash function to facilitate quantum-resistant metering data communication, with a focus on privacy and practicality. The security analysis and performance evaluation conducted for Q-Secure-P-2-SMA confirm its resilience against well-known security threats, showcasing improved efficiency compared to existing state-of-art-protocols across computation, communication, and energy overhead. Notably, the Q-Secure-P-2-SMA doesn't necessitate quantum capability among all SG entities, making it more practical and relevant in real-world scenarios.