Secure Medical IoT Networks Using Blockchain and Post-Quantum Cryptography

Abstract

Securing sensitive medical data in IoT-based healthcare systems is increasingly critical due to growing cybersecurity threats and the emergence of quantum computing. This paper addresses these challenges by proposing a decentralized architecture that integrates blockchain technology and postquantum cryptography (PQC) to ensure data integrity, privacy, and resilience. The solution employs the Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) consensus algorithm to maintain a tamper-resistant ledger of data locations, while encrypted medical records are distributed across Raspberry Pi nodes. Communications between sensor nodes and storage servers are protected using PQC primitives such as CRYSTALS-Kyber and Falcon. The methodology includes a lightweight protocol designed for resource-constrained environments and a storage scheme that optimizes scalability and energy efficiency. Experimental results validate the scalability and effectiveness of this architecture in real-world healthcare settings, demonstrating its potential as a secure and sustainable framework for electronic medical data management.