{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T02:32:58Z","timestamp":1778034778777,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":62,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,1]],"date-time":"2025-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740787200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Information"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Immersive environments have brought a great transformation in human\u2013computer interaction by enabling realistic and interactive experiences within simulated or augmented spaces. In these immersive environments, virtual assets such as custom avatars, digital artwork, and virtual real estate play an important role, often holding a substantial value in both virtual and real worlds. However, this value also makes them attractive to fraudulent activities. As a result, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of virtual assets is of concern. This study proposes a cryptographic solution that leverages digital signatures and hash algorithms to secure virtual assets in immersive environments. The system employs RSA-2048 for signing and SHA-256 hashing for binding the digital signature to the asset\u2019s data to prevent tampering and forgery. Our experimental evaluation demonstrates that the signing process operates with remarkable efficiency; over ten trials, the signing time averaged 17.3 ms, with a narrow range of 16\u201319 ms and a standard deviation of 1.1 ms. Verification times were near-instantaneous (0\u20131 ms), ensuring real-time responsiveness. Moreover, the signing process incurred a minimal memory footprint of approximately 4 KB, highlighting the system\u2019s suitability for resource-constrained VR applications. Simulations of tampering and forgery attacks further validated the system\u2019s capability to detect unauthorized modifications, with a 100% detection rate observed across multiple trials. While the system currently employs RSA, which may be vulnerable to quantum computing in the future, its modular design ensures crypto-agility, allowing for the integration of quantum-resistant algorithms as needed. This work not only addresses immediate security challenges in immersive environments but also lays the groundwork for broader applications, including regulatory compliance for financial virtual assets.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/info16030191","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,3]],"date-time":"2025-03-03T03:22:44Z","timestamp":1740972164000},"page":"191","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Enhancing Security and Authenticity in Immersive Environments"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-3967-2849","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rebecca","family":"Acheampong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7472-2781","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dorin-Mircea","family":"Popovici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania"},{"name":"Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Ovidius University of Constanta, 900527 Constanta, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6839-9279","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Titus","family":"Balan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-8180-6467","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexandre","family":"Rekeraho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Manuel Soto","family":"Ramos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26258","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2023.3257029","article-title":"Blockchain Meets Metaverse and Digital Asset Management: A Comprehensive Survey","volume":"11","author":"Truong","year":"2023","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"292","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autcon.2017.09.016","article-title":"Immersive environment for improving the understanding of architectural 3D models: Comparing user spatial perception between immersive and traditional virtual reality systems","volume":"84","author":"Paes","year":"2017","journal-title":"Autom. 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