Lightweight Scheme for Security and Privacy in Smart Grids Applications

In the evolving landscape of smart grid technology, the need for robust, efficient, and scalable security solutions is paramount. This paper presents a lightweight cryptographic scheme based on the Nth Degree Truncated Polynomial Ring (NTRU) designed to enhance security and privacy in smart grid applications. Unlike traditional cryptographic methods that our proposed NTRU-based scheme offers a quantum-resistant solution with minimal overhead, making it ideal for deployment in resource-constrained environments such as smart meters and distributed sensors. The scheme provides strong protection against various cyber threats, ensuring data confidentiality, integrity and authenticity while maintaining high operational efficiency. Through comprehensive analysis and comparison with existing schemes, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in balancing security with the practical demands of smart grid infrastructure. Our findings indicate that the NTRU-based scheme not only meets the stringent security requirements of smart grids but also preserves user privacy, making it a viable solution for future- roofing smart gridncommunications against emerging threats.