Signcryption Facilitating End-to-End Security with Source Authentication in Broker-Based Internet of Things (IoT) Systems

Broker-based Internet of Things (IoT) systems, such as Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), typically focus on authentication, privacy, and integrity protection between a client and its broker. Some enhancements to broker-based systems address end-to-end (E2E) security against an honest-but-curious broker. However, these conventional E2E solutions overlook a critical limitation: they do not provide source authentication that enables a subscriber to explicitly authenticate the sender. This study modifies the Mohamed–Elkamchouchi signcryption scheme and applies it to achieve E2E security with source authentication. The analysis shows that the proposed approach enhances security functionality while preserving efficiency.