A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks
Abstract Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) are a new research area gaining popularity. It has several key applications for instance; marine monitoring, surveillance, environmental sensing, etc. However, It has several challenges including security, node mobility, limited bandwidth, and hig...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95836-8 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849698498362998784 |
|---|---|
| author | Sabir Shah Nadeem Sarwar Abdu Salam Farhan Amin Faizan Ullah Asfandyar Khan Isabel de la Torre Mónica Gracia Villar Helena Garay |
| author_facet | Sabir Shah Nadeem Sarwar Abdu Salam Farhan Amin Faizan Ullah Asfandyar Khan Isabel de la Torre Mónica Gracia Villar Helena Garay |
| author_sort | Sabir Shah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) are a new research area gaining popularity. It has several key applications for instance; marine monitoring, surveillance, environmental sensing, etc. However, It has several challenges including security, node mobility, limited bandwidth, and high error rates. Thus, to solve these issues, herein we propose a new lightweight Signcryption scheme for UWSNs. The proposed scheme effectively balances computational complexity and enhances the security of UWSNS. In contrast to the other state-of-the-art cryptographic schemes, the proposed scheme consists of a single combined operation of encryption and signing processes, which significantly improves its computational and communicational performance to ensure confidence when transmitting data. We performed the experimentation, and the experimental results show that the proposed scheme performs well compared to the state-of-the-art model. In addition, the experimental results revealed that the proposed scheme had a 40% less computational cost, 30% less energy consumption, and 25% less communication overhead than the state-of-the-art methods. This makes the proposed scheme highly appropriate for resource-scarce UWSNs. The proposed scheme also showed good scalability, where the performance could be sustained from a small-scale network of 50 nodes to a bandwidth of 200 nodes. Further, the proposed model also kept the security and latency low for the mobile nodes in an environment with high node mobility over the underwater terrain. In addition, the proposed method ensures flexibility and scalability by offering compatibility with diverse network structures and seamless integration with various cryptographic approaches, making it adaptable for dynamic underwater environments and broader applications such as IoT and smart city networks. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d44485404fd146609fd4677380dbf520 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-d44485404fd146609fd4677380dbf5202025-08-20T03:18:53ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-0115111910.1038/s41598-025-95836-8A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networksSabir Shah0Nadeem Sarwar1Abdu Salam2Farhan Amin3Faizan Ullah4Asfandyar Khan5Isabel de la Torre6Mónica Gracia Villar7Helena Garay8Department of Computer Science, University of BunerDepartment of Computer Science, Bahria University Lahore CampusDepartment of Computer Science, Abdul Wali Khan UniversitySchool of Computer Science and Engineering, Yeungnam UniversityDepartment of Computer Science, Bacha Khan UniversityDepartment of Computer Science and Information Technology, Hazara University MansehraDepartment of Signal Theory and Communications, University of ValladolidUniversidad Europea del AtlánticoUniversidad Europea del AtlánticoAbstract Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) are a new research area gaining popularity. It has several key applications for instance; marine monitoring, surveillance, environmental sensing, etc. However, It has several challenges including security, node mobility, limited bandwidth, and high error rates. Thus, to solve these issues, herein we propose a new lightweight Signcryption scheme for UWSNs. The proposed scheme effectively balances computational complexity and enhances the security of UWSNS. In contrast to the other state-of-the-art cryptographic schemes, the proposed scheme consists of a single combined operation of encryption and signing processes, which significantly improves its computational and communicational performance to ensure confidence when transmitting data. We performed the experimentation, and the experimental results show that the proposed scheme performs well compared to the state-of-the-art model. In addition, the experimental results revealed that the proposed scheme had a 40% less computational cost, 30% less energy consumption, and 25% less communication overhead than the state-of-the-art methods. This makes the proposed scheme highly appropriate for resource-scarce UWSNs. The proposed scheme also showed good scalability, where the performance could be sustained from a small-scale network of 50 nodes to a bandwidth of 200 nodes. Further, the proposed model also kept the security and latency low for the mobile nodes in an environment with high node mobility over the underwater terrain. In addition, the proposed method ensures flexibility and scalability by offering compatibility with diverse network structures and seamless integration with various cryptographic approaches, making it adaptable for dynamic underwater environments and broader applications such as IoT and smart city networks.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95836-8Underwater wireless sensor networkDynamicSigncryptionElliptic curve cryptography (ECC) Security |
| spellingShingle | Sabir Shah Nadeem Sarwar Abdu Salam Farhan Amin Faizan Ullah Asfandyar Khan Isabel de la Torre Mónica Gracia Villar Helena Garay A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks Scientific Reports Underwater wireless sensor network Dynamic Signcryption Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) Security |
| title | A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks |
| title_full | A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks |
| title_fullStr | A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks |
| title_short | A flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks |
| title_sort | flexible and lightweight signcryption scheme for underwater wireless sensor networks |
| topic | Underwater wireless sensor network Dynamic Signcryption Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) Security |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95836-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sabirshah aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT nadeemsarwar aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT abdusalam aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT farhanamin aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT faizanullah aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT asfandyarkhan aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT isabeldelatorre aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT monicagraciavillar aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT helenagaray aflexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT sabirshah flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT nadeemsarwar flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT abdusalam flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT farhanamin flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT faizanullah flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT asfandyarkhan flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT isabeldelatorre flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT monicagraciavillar flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks AT helenagaray flexibleandlightweightsigncryptionschemeforunderwaterwirelesssensornetworks |