Cyber-Physical Power Systems: Exploring a Streamlined Signcryption Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Terminals

Most of the existing signcryption schemes utilize a key generation center to generate pseudonyms without updating, and usually opt for bilinear pairing to design authentication schemes. The disadvantage is that these schemes not only incur heavy computation and communication overheads during information interaction, but also can not eliminate security risks arising from not updating pseudonyms. These limitations render them less effective for smart terminals (STs) with limited computation and communication resources in cyber-physical power systems. The main purpose of this article is to explore a streamlined signcryption scheme tailored for resource-limited STs. To achieve this, a dynamical pseudonym self-generation mechanism (DPSGM) is first introduced to prevent the source from being linked and protect privacy. In addition, a streamlined signcryption scheme is designed based on elliptic curve cryptography and certificateless cryptography, integrating seamlessly with DPSGM. This design significantly reduces computation and communication burdens during information interaction. Finally, a real experimental platform is established to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Visual interfaces show the entire secure interaction process and the resistance to attacks.