Sustainability-focused crypto protocols design methodology for sensors and IoT with the deployment of LLMs

Trček, Denis (author)

Among the key computing challenges today are green computing and quantum computing, with the quantum paradigm introducing adverse consequences for many existing cryptographic protocols. However, the entire internet critically depends on these protocols. Therefore, building on theoretical preliminaries, this paper derives a coherent methodological basis for designing and developing quantum-computing-resistant and sustainable protocols for sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT) by extending traditional approaches and including large language models (LLMs). In line with these premises, this paper focuses on authenticated key exchange (AKE), which is one key security service. To support ever-growing needs under the described conditions and using the developed methodology (called the Sustainability-focused LLM-supported crypto protocols development process, SFLSCDP), this paper presents a novel, formally verified AKE protocol family. This family of protocols can be considered ultra-lightweight, as a corresponding metric is also given. Consequently, additional effective means for security services in the post-quantum computing era are provided, even for computationally weak devices.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sensors, Internet of Things, IoT, cryptographic protocols, quantum computing, authentication, key exchange, formal methods, large language models, security, privacy
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FRI - Faculty of Computer and Information Science
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 26, iss. 15, art. 4930
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-186057
• UDC: 004.056.55:004.738.5
• ISSN on article: 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s26154930
• COBISS.SI-ID: 288293891
• Publication date in RUL: 26.08.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Sensors
• Shortened title: Sensors
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1424-8220
• COBISS.SI-ID: 10176278

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: senzorji, internet stvari, kriptografski protokoli, kvantno računalništvo, overjanje prisotnosti, izmenjava ključev, formalne metode, veliki jezikovni modeli, varnost, zasebnost

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0359-2018
• Name: Vseprisotno računalništvo