Article Sidebar

Submitted
22 April 2026
Accepted
26 May 2026
Published
25 June 2026
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 4

Main Article Content

Abstract

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) integrate heterogeneous hardware and software components across multi-layered architectures, enabling real-time interaction between computational elements and physical environments. The rapid evolution of quantum computing introduces a paradigm shift in the threat landscape for CPS security, as quantum algorithms — particularly Shor's algorithm — threaten to compromise widely deployed public-key cryptographic schemes such as RSA and ECC. This paper provides a structured analysis of quantum-induced threats to CPS and evaluates candidate mitigation frameworks, including Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). We present a taxonomy of attack scenarios organised by CPS layer, a comparative analysis of quantum-resilient defence models, and a conceptual risk-projection model illustrating how cryptographic breach probabilities may evolve as quantum hardware matures between 2025 and 2050. NOTE: All tabular data in this paper are based on conceptual simulations derived from theoretical models and existing literature; they are intended as illustrative benchmarks rather than empirically validated results. Our findings indicate that migration toward hybrid PQC architectures, combined with hardware-level security measures and regulatory modernisation, is the most pragmatic near-term strategy for CPS operators facing the quantum transition.

Keywords

Cyber-Physical Systems Quantum Computing Post-Quantum Cryptography Quantum Key Distribution Threat Mitigation CPS Security

Article Details

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Hawraa Nori (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
[1]
H. Nori, “Cyber-Physical System Security in the Age of Quantum Computing: Identifying Threats and Developing Mitigation Strategies”, Cybersys. J, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 62–75, Jun. 2026, doi: 10.57238/csj.2026.1026.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX

How to Cite

[1]
H. Nori, “Cyber-Physical System Security in the Age of Quantum Computing: Identifying Threats and Developing Mitigation Strategies”, Cybersys. J, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 62–75, Jun. 2026, doi: 10.57238/csj.2026.1026.
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

References

  1. M. Barbeau and J. Garcia-Alfaro, "Cyber-physical defense in the quantum era," Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 1905, Feb. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05690-1
  2. Y. Baseri, V. Chouhan, A. Ghorbani, and A. Chow, "Evaluation framework for quantum security risk assessment: A comprehensive strategy for quantum-safe transition," Computers & Security, vol. 150, p. 104272, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.cose.2024.104272
  3. N. Kilber, D. Kaestle, and S. Wagner, "Cybersecurity for quantum computing," arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.14701, 2021, doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2110.14701
  4. S. Pirandola, U. L. Andersen, L. Banchi, M. Berta, D. Bunandar, R. Colbeck, D. Englund, T. Gehring, C. Lupo, C. Ottaviani, J. L. Pereira, M. Razavi, J. S. Shaari, M. Tomamichel, V. C. Usenko, G. Vallone, P. Villoresi, and P. Wallden, "Advances in quantum cryptography," Advances in Optics and Photonics, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 1012–1236, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.1364/AOP.361502
  5. F. Xu, X. Ma, Q. Zhang, H.-K. Lo, and J.-W. Pan, "Secure quantum key distribution with realistic devices," Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 92, no. 2, p. 025002, May 2020, doi: 10.1103/RevModPhys.92.025002
  6. V. Scarani, H. Bechmann-Pasquinucci, N. J. Cerf, M. Dušek, N. Lütkenhaus, and M. Peev, "The security of practical quantum key distribution," Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 81, no. 3, pp. 1301–1350, Sep. 2009, doi: 10.1103/RevModPhys.81.1301
  7. N. Gisin, G. Ribordy, W. Tittel, and H. Zbinden, "Quantum cryptography," Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 145–195, Jan. 2002, doi: 10.1103/RevModPhys.74.145
  8. R. Renner, "Security of quantum key distribution," International Journal of Quantum Information, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1–127, Feb. 2008, doi: 10.1142/S0219749908003256
  9. C. H. Bennett, G. Brassard, C. Crépeau, and U. M. Maurer, "Generalized privacy amplification," IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 1915–1923, Nov. 1995, doi: 10.1109/18.476316
  10. M. Lucamarini, Z. L. Yuan, J. F. Dynes, and A. J. Shields, "Overcoming the rate-distance limit of quantum key distribution without quantum repeaters," Nature, vol. 557, no. 7705, pp. 400–403, May 2018, doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0066-6
  11. A. Boaron, G. Boso, D. Rusca, C. Autebert, C. Agnesi, M. Perrenoud, M. A. Mohd Johari, F. Bussières, and H. Zbinden, "Secure quantum key distribution over 421 km of optical fiber," Physical Review Letters, vol. 121, no. 19, p. 190502, Nov. 2018, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.190502
  12. S.-K. Liao, W.-Q. Cai, W.-Y. Liu, L. Zhang, Y. Li, J.-G. Ren, J. Yin, Q. Shen, Y. Cao, Z.-P. Li, F.-Z. Li, X.-W. Chen, L.-H. Sun, J.-J. Jia, J.-C. Wu, X.-J. Jiang, J.-F. Wang, Y.-M. Huang, Q. Wang, Y.-L. Zhou, L. Deng, T. Xi, L. Ma, T. Hu, Q. Zhang, Y.-A. Chen, N.-L. Liu, X.-B. Wang, Z.-C. Zhu, C.-Y. Lu, R. Shu, C.-Z. Peng, J.-Y. Wang, and J.-W. Pan, "Satellite-to-ground quantum key distribution," Nature, vol. 549, no. 7670, pp. 43–47, Aug. 2017, doi: 10.1038/nature23655
  13. J. Yin, Y.-H. Li, S.-K. Liao, M. Yang, Y. Cao, L. Zhang, J.-G. Ren, W.-Q. Cai, W.-Y. Liu, S.-L. Li, R. Shu, Y.-M. Huang, L. Deng, L. Li, Q. Zhang, N.-L. Liu, Y.-A. Chen, C.-Y. Lu, X.-B. Wang, F. Xu, J.-Y. Wang, C.-Z. Peng, A. K. Ekert, and J.-W. Pan, "Entanglement-based secure quantum cryptography over 1,120 kilometres," Nature, vol. 582, no. 7813, pp. 501–505, Jun. 2020, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2401-y
  14. G. Zhang, J. Wang, Y. Liu, X. Guo, Z. Chen, Y. Li, H.-K. Lo, and Q. Zhang, "Large-scale quantum key distribution network and applications," Frontiers of Optoelectronics, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 289–302, Sep. 2019, doi: 10.1007/s12200-019-0945-1
  15. E. O. Kiktenko, A. S. Trushechkin, C. C. W. Lim, Y. V. Kurochkin, and A. K. Fedorov, "Symmetric blind information reconciliation for quantum key distribution," Physical Review Applied, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 044017, Oct. 2017, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.8.044017
  16. S. Wang, Z.-Q. Yin, D.-Y. He, W. Chen, R.-Q. Wang, P. Ye, Y. Zhou, G.-J. Fan-Yuan, F.-X. Wang, W. Chen, Y.-G. Zhu, P. V. Morozov, A. V. Divochiy, Z. Zhou, G.-C. Guo, and Z.-F. Han, "Twin-field quantum key distribution over 1000 km optical fibres," Nature Photonics, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 593–598, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41566-022-01061-1
  17. B. Li, G. Zhang, C. Zhou, Y. Wang, W. Li, and Q. Zhang, "Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution: Advances and perspectives," Quantum Science and Technology, vol. 6, no. 3, p. 033003, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1088/2058-9565/abfd33
  18. W. Wang, B. Li, C. Zhou, Y. Wang, W. Li, G. Zhang, and Q. Zhang, "Experimental free-space measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution over 40 dB channel loss," npj Quantum Information, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 113, Jul. 2021.