Advances in Cryptography and Blockchain for Securing Modern Smart Communications

Dear Colleagues,

The increased automation in modern smart environments are changing our activities of daily life as well as various industrial processes. Recent emerging communication technologies including 5G/6G, Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Drones (IoD), and Internet of Everything (IoE) facilitate the development of various smart places, including smart homes, smart hospitals, smart farms, smart factories and smart cities. Specific applications include healthcare, electricity grids, satellite communication, underwater acoustic communication, and vehicular networks, among others. Problems have arisen related to information security and the data privacy of communicating entities (users, servers, IoT devices, etc.) in the systems. Secure and efficient mechanisms are required to address these issues. Many of the current cryptographic methods are still constrained in terms of processing and communication ability. In addition, there may be a trade-off between anonymity and authentication, or between security and efficiency, which should also be considered. Blockchain is an emerging technology that provide a decentralized platform that assures data integrity, transparency, traceability, anonymity, non-repudiation, accountability, and unforgeability.

At present, there is a lack of sufficient research works integrating cryptography techniques and blockchain in a single design with the aim of addressing the issues described above. This Special Issue is seeking innovative cryptographic methods, tailored blockchain designs, or works integrating cryptography and blockchain in design with the aim of assuring security and privacy in systems. Research papers, communications, and review articles are welcome on topics including but not limited to the following:

1. Secure and anonymity-preserving designs for smart systems;
2. New cryptographic tools addressing existing security concerns in smart communications;
3. Applied cryptography;
4. Lightweight cryptography;
5. Post-quantum cryptography;
6. Blockchain-enabled designs for smart communications;
7. Security and privacy in smart blockchain networks;
8. Blockchain-based cryptographic authentication/verification protocols;
9. Blockchain-based trusted protocols for smart communications;
10. New consensus mechanisms for blockchains;
11. Secure smart contracts in blockchain.

Dr. Tuan-Vinh Le
Prof. Dr. Cheng-Chi Lee
Guest Editors

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