{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T11:02:46Z","timestamp":1789556566602,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005270","name":"Department of Science and Technology of Fujian Province, China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2026H0023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026H0023"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005270","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2026H0023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026H0023"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00rgzpv08","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>With the rapid advancement of quantum computing technology, IoT edge devices widely deployed in industrial settings are facing severe threats to their quantum-resistant security. This work focuses on the challenges of adapting Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) for resource-constrained environments. This work systematically identifies four critical obstacles: difficulties in physical integration due to device heterogeneity; constraints imposed by the limited computing power and storage resources of edge nodes on PQC algorithm execution; compatibility gaps between QKD\/PQC and existing industrial protocols (such as Modbus and Profinet); and the engineering cost pressures associated with large-scale deployment. To address these issues, the paper proposes three synergistic lightweight countermeasures: (1) a tiered deployment architecture for quantum-safe security that accommodates device heterogeneity, enabling dynamic trade-offs between security strength and resource overhead; (2) middleware for quantum-classical hybrid network protocol coordination, ensuring seamless integration between QKD\/PQC and industrial control protocols; and (3) a three-tier distributed key management mechanism (edge node, network proxy, and central system) that offloads computation- and storage-intensive tasks to high-resource nodes, thereby alleviating bottlenecks at the edge. Experimental validation within a smart manufacturing factory\u2019s sensor network demonstrates that the proposed scheme maintains post-quantum security capabilities (with QKD integration validated at the proof-of-concept level) while reducing per-node deployment costs by approximately 92.4% compared to pure QKD solutions and by about 32% compared to pure PQC solutions, all while facilitating seamless, non-disruptive upgrades. This study indicates that lightweight algorithm design, hardware-software co-optimization, and tiered architectural deployment constitute a viable pathway for advancing IoT edge security into the quantum-safe era.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s26185859","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T10:09:17Z","timestamp":1789553357000},"page":"5859","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Quantum-Resistant Security Technologies for Resource-Constrained Edge Devices: Challenges and Lightweight Countermeasures"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-5594-813X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fengsheng","family":"Zeng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Yang-En University, Quanzhou 362000, China"},{"name":"Center for Artificial Intelligence Technology, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Bahari","family":"Idrus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Artificial Intelligence Technology, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2003-8853","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammad Faidzul","family":"Nasrudin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Artificial Intelligence Technology, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1183-0830","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eddie Shahril","family":"Ismail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Chhetri, R. 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