RAM-MEN: Robust authentication mechanism for IoT-enabled edge networks

The rapid expansion of Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) and the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized technology by enabling real-time data processing at the network edge, which is essential for applications such as autonomous vehicles and smart cities. With the advent of 6G networks, which promise ultra-fast speeds, vast connectivity, and low-latency communication, MEC-IoT systems are becoming more powerful but also face significant security challenges. Existing authentication mechanisms (AMs) are often vulnerable to attacks like impersonation and insider threats. This paper introduces a novel lightweight AM, called RAM-MEN that employs cryptography and physically unclonable functions (PUFs) to secure IoT-enabled MEC environments in the 6G era. It protects against insider threats and fake MEC access points while ensuring efficiency and scalability. Additionally, the proposed RAM-MEN establishes a secure communication channel (session key) between IoT devices and the MEC server, enabling secure offloading of computationally intensive tasks. The security of the session is rigorously evaluated using formal methods, including Scyther and the random or real model, alongside informal approaches. Comparative performance evaluations show that the proposed RAM-MEN reduces communication costs by 21.54% to 45.53% and computational costs by 17.09% to 83.72%, while providing enhanced security features.