Quantum Threat in Healthcare IoT: Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

TL;DR

This paper discusses the emerging quantum threats to healthcare IoT security, emphasizing the need for quantum-resistant cryptography and strategies to protect sensitive medical data and devices from future quantum attacks.

Contribution

It analyzes the impact of quantum computing on healthcare IoT security and reviews potential mitigation strategies like post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution.

Findings

Quantum threats can compromise healthcare IoT data security.

Post-quantum cryptography offers promising solutions for resource-constrained devices.

Global efforts are underway to develop quantum-resistant security protocols.

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed healthcare, facilitating remote patient monitoring, enhanced medication adherence, and chronic disease management. However, this interconnected ecosystem faces significant vulnerabilities with the advent of quantum computing, which threatens to break existing encryption standards protecting sensitive patient data in IoT-enabled medical devices. This chapter examines the quantum threat to healthcare IoT security, highlighting the potential impacts of compromised encryption, including privacy breaches, device failures, and manipulated medical records. It introduces post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and quantum-resistant techniques like quantum key distribution (QKD), addressing their application in resource-constrained healthcare IoT devices such as pacemakers, monitoring tools, and telemedicine systems. The chapter further explores the challenges of integrating these solutions and reviews global efforts in mitigating quantum risks, offering insights into suitable PQC primitives for various healthcare use cases.