A Certificate-Based Ring Signcryption Scheme for Securing UAV-Enabled Private Edge Computing Systems

The evolving paradigm of private edge computing seamlessly incorporates the more extensive functionalities of cloud computing with localized processing. This paradigm eliminates the requirement for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to transmit large volumes of data to a centralized cloud, thereby reducing response times. UAVs’ dynamic nature and dependency on unsecured and publicly accessible wireless channels make secure communication between a private edge cloud and a UAV difficult. Therefore, private edge computing-enabled UAV networks require additional security measures to protect the network and users’ data. This research article introduces a certificate-based ring signcryption scheme that mitigates security concerns by utilizing the concept of hyperelliptic curve cryptography (HECC). By combining digital signature and encryption into a single operation, the proposed method takes advantage of the most advantageous characteristic of HECC (the ability to use a short key, such as 80 bits) while maintaining the same level of security as RSA and ECC. The security properties of the proposed scheme are validated by implementing a formal security evaluation method known as the random oracle model (ROM), in addition to informal security analysis. Furthermore, the computation and communication costs of the proposed scheme are evaluated and compared to those of relevant existing schemes. The performance and security analysis demonstrate that the proposed scheme enhances efficiency and security.