Designing Robust Cryptographic Schemes for 5G-Enabled Data Sharing Between Drones and Smart Grid Infrastructures

Abstract

Massive deployments of drones and smart grid infrastructures have accelerated the demand for secure data sharing mechanisms over 5G networks. Traditional encryption and key management techniques often prove insufficient for scalable operations, where the dynamic interactions among drones, substations, and control centers challenge the resilience of conventional cryptographic designs. This work investigates theoretical constructs and practical mechanisms that integrate lightweight encryption, robust key exchange, and multi-party authentication protocols. Novel approaches based on elliptic-curve cryptography and hash-based message authentication codes are examined to address high throughput, low latency requirements, and potential vulnerabilities in resource-constrained drone platforms. Emphasis is placed on ensuring privacy-preserving data collection, distribution of cryptographic keys in real time, and tamper-resistant data recording for auditing and compliance in a large-scale environment. The proposed approach leverages the high bandwidth and ultra-low latency characteristics of 5G technology to facilitate continuous interaction between drones and smart grid nodes without risking data integrity or system reliability. Analytical models for efficiency evaluation show that advanced key distribution architectures and distributed trust frameworks optimize computational overhead while preserving operational feasibility. Comparative security assessments suggest a high degree of protection against eavesdropping, spoofing, and replay attacks. Findings underscore the necessity of adaptive cryptographic protocols to meet both performance and security demands in modern 5G-enabled energy ecosystems.