Post-Quantum Identity-Based Linkable Ring Signcryption for Edge IoT Devices

With the rapid expansion of consumer electronics and the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, ensuring secure communication in resource-constrained edge devices has become a critical challenge, especially under the threat of quantum attacks. Although lattice-based cryptographic schemes provide post-quantum security, they often suffer from large key storage and high computational overhead, limiting their applicability in edge environments. To address these challenges, we propose an identity-based linkable ring signcryption scheme constructed on the post quantum Lattice cryptography, tailored for edge-enabled IoT systems. The scheme employs a trapdoor generation algorithm to establish the master keys, utilizes compact Gaussian sampling to derive private keys for ring members, and integrates rejection sampling to generate user signatures with strong anonymity. Furthermore, a key encapsulation mechanism ensures identity protection during encryption. Security analysis under the Random Oracle Model (ROM) demonstrates the scheme's resistance to forgery and its linkability property. Performance evaluation shows that the proposed approach achieves smaller public keys, reduced encryption/decryption costs, and enhanced efficiency, making it well-suited for lightweight IoT and consumer electronics applications in the post-quantum era.