case file · 02 / icetce 2025

Quantum Key Distribution
for SCADA in Power Grids

Security architectures and practical applications for quantum-safe communication across cyber-physical power infrastructure.

ICETCE 2025 · Nov 21–22 — peer-reviewed — quantum security — cyber-physical systems

document

abstract

The fast integration of information technology with operational technology in cyber-physical systems (CPS) has introduced new cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure systems including power grids. Current cryptographic systems fail to protect data because emerging quantum computing technology will break existing standard encryption methods. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) employs principles of quantum physics to provide secure communication through an unbreakable method. This paper examines the implementation of QKD technology for CPS systems focusing on SCADA systems of the power grid infrastructure. The paper delivers an extensive evaluation of the QKD system architecture together with feature extraction and classification approaches and practical system implementations. The analysis focuses on hydroelectric systems and wide-area SCADA deployments and post-quantum cryptographic resilience. An extensive review of the existing literature helps us understand the current state, while providing essential knowledge gaps before suggesting research pathways for quantum-enhanced CPS security.

key results

            94.95%
            Random Forest accuracy on QKD-SCADA anomaly detection
          

            1.00
            SVM recall on the anomaly class — zero missed events
          

            4
            ML classifiers benchmarked — RF, SVM, KNN, Neural Net
          

            31
            Referenced works across QKD field trials, protocols, and CPS
          

authors

Aryan Mondal Dept. of Networking and Communications · SRM Institute of Science and Technology · Kattankulathur, India am8847@srmist.edu.in
Annapurani Panaiyappan K Dept. of Networking and Communications · SRM Institute of Science and Technology · Kattankulathur, India annapook@srmist.edu.in
Abhradeep Basak Dept. of Networking and Communications · SRM Institute of Science and Technology · Kattankulathur, India ab6446@srmist.edu.in

keywords · index terms

quantum key distribution cyber-physical systems scada security smart grid post-quantum cryptography intrusion detection

venue · publication

conference ICETCE 2025

dates 21–22 November 2025

conference record IEEE # 66848

isbn 979-8-3315-1542-3

doi 10.1109/ICETCE66848.2025.11388178

document id IEEE Xplore · 11388178

pages 24 – 31

full title Quantum Key Distribution for SCADA in Power Grids: Security Architectures and Practical Applications

read in full

Full text, figures (SCADA architectures, confusion matrices for the four classifiers, accuracy comparison), tables, and the complete reference list are hosted on IEEE Xplore. This page is a landing summary — the canonical version of the paper lives there.

open on IEEE Xplore ↗ resolve via DOI ↗ ← back to publications