Adaptive Trust Architecture for Secure IoT Communication in 6G

Ijaz Ahmad; Shakthi Gimhana; Erkki Harjula

doi:10.1109/LNET.2025.3566909

Adaptive Trust Architecture for Secure IoT Communication in 6G

Ijaz Ahmad^*
, Shakthi Gimhana
, Erkki Harjula

^*Corresponding author for this work

BA6403 Advanced cybersecurity and cryptography

University of Oulu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This letter presents an adaptive trust architecture that enables secure, low-latency communication in 6G-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) networks, centering around a novel Adaptive Zero Trust Manager (AZTM) deployed at the network edge. Integrating zero trust principles with a lightweight, consensus-free blockchain, AZTM provides real-time authentication and behavior-based trust evaluation while maintaining energy efficiency. It supports secure device communication through dynamic key exchange, eliminating reliance on pre-shared secrets or centralized trust authorities. The system is validated through implementation on resource-constrained IoT devices, demonstrating low-latency performance, resilience to common attacks, and suitability for mission-critical 6G applications such as healthcare, industrial automation, and intelligent transport.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	113-116
Journal	IEEE Networking Letters
Volume	7
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/LNET.2025.3566909
Publication status	Published - 2025
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Finnish Doctoral Program Network in Artificial Intelligence, AI-DOC under Grant VN/3137/2024-OKM-6; in part by the Business Finland through the Project Eware-6G under Grant 8819/31/2022, through the Project Tomohead under Grant 8095/31/2022, and through the Project SUNSET-6G under Grant 8682/31/2022; and in part the 6G Flagship funded by the Research Council of Finland under Grant 369116.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

6G
Adaptive Security
Blockchain
Decentralized Authentication
Energy Efficiency
Internet of Things (IoT)
Zero Trust

Access to Document

10.1109/LNET.2025.3566909

Cite this

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title = "Adaptive Trust Architecture for Secure IoT Communication in 6G",

abstract = "This letter presents an adaptive trust architecture that enables secure, low-latency communication in 6G-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) networks, centering around a novel Adaptive Zero Trust Manager (AZTM) deployed at the network edge. Integrating zero trust principles with a lightweight, consensus-free blockchain, AZTM provides real-time authentication and behavior-based trust evaluation while maintaining energy efficiency. It supports secure device communication through dynamic key exchange, eliminating reliance on pre-shared secrets or centralized trust authorities. The system is validated through implementation on resource-constrained IoT devices, demonstrating low-latency performance, resilience to common attacks, and suitability for mission-critical 6G applications such as healthcare, industrial automation, and intelligent transport.",

keywords = "6G, Adaptive Security, Blockchain, Decentralized Authentication, Energy Efficiency, Internet of Things (IoT), Zero Trust",

author = "Ijaz Ahmad and Shakthi Gimhana and Erkki Harjula",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1109/LNET.2025.3566909",

language = "English",

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journal = "IEEE Networking Letters",

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AB - This letter presents an adaptive trust architecture that enables secure, low-latency communication in 6G-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) networks, centering around a novel Adaptive Zero Trust Manager (AZTM) deployed at the network edge. Integrating zero trust principles with a lightweight, consensus-free blockchain, AZTM provides real-time authentication and behavior-based trust evaluation while maintaining energy efficiency. It supports secure device communication through dynamic key exchange, eliminating reliance on pre-shared secrets or centralized trust authorities. The system is validated through implementation on resource-constrained IoT devices, demonstrating low-latency performance, resilience to common attacks, and suitability for mission-critical 6G applications such as healthcare, industrial automation, and intelligent transport.

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KW - Blockchain

KW - Decentralized Authentication

KW - Energy Efficiency

KW - Internet of Things (IoT)

KW - Zero Trust

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Adaptive Trust Architecture for Secure IoT Communication in 6G

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

SUNSET-6G : Sustainable Network Security Tech for 6G

Cite this

Adaptive Trust Architecture for Secure IoT Communication in 6G

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

SUNSET-6G : Sustainable Network Security Tech for 6G

Cite this