Post-Quantum and Blockchain-Based Attestation for Trusted FPGAs in B5G Networks

2025-06-26

AI Summary

To address the dual security challenges—physical attacks on FPGAs and quantum threats to classical cryptography—in B5G edge environments, this paper proposes a trusted security architecture integrating remote attestation, post-quantum cryptography (PQC), and blockchain. The architecture uniquely synergizes PQC algorithms with blockchain for FPGA remote attestation, enabling quantum-resistant configuration integrity verification and immutable end-to-end evidence logging. Leveraging a hardware-software co-design approach, it is validated on both Xilinx and Intel FPGA platforms. Compared to conventional solutions, it incurs only a 2% performance overhead while significantly enhancing long-term quantum resilience and cross-edge deployment adaptability. This work establishes a scalable, efficient, and trustworthy infrastructure paradigm for programmable hardware in the post-quantum edge computing era.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML
• Computer Vision: Adversarial Attacks & Robustness
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Agent Architectures

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Blockchains and distributed ledgers
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Federated Web and WoT systems, including distributed, federated and edge-based data processing
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and multi-modal RAG

Abstract

The advent of 5G and beyond has brought increased performance networks, facilitating the deployment of services closer to the user. To meet performance requirements such services require specialized hardware, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). However, FPGAs are often deployed in unprotected environments, leaving the user's applications vulnerable to multiple attacks. With the rise of quantum computing, which threatens the integrity of widely-used cryptographic algorithms, the need for a robust security infrastructure is even more crucial. In this paper we introduce a hybrid hardware-software solution utilizing remote attestation to securely configure FPGAs, while integrating Post-Quantum Cryptographic (PQC) algorithms for enhanced security. Additionally, to enable trustworthiness across the whole edge computing continuum, our solution integrates a blockchain infrastructure, ensuring the secure storage of any security evidence. We evaluate the proposed secure configuration process under different PQC algorithms in two FPGA families, showcasing only 2% overheard compared to the non PQC approach.

Problem

• Securing FPGAs in B5G networks against quantum computing threats
• Integrating post-quantum cryptography for robust FPGA attestation
• Using blockchain to ensure trust in edge computing environments

Innovation

• Hybrid hardware-software solution for FPGA security
• Post-Quantum Cryptographic algorithms integration
• Blockchain infrastructure for secure evidence storage