AQ-ResCon: Adaptive Quantum-Resistant Lattice-Based Key Agreement Protocol for Secure Distributed Container Orchestration in Edge Cloud Environments

In the rapidly evolving domain of smart healthcare, the integration of Docker containers and Kubernetes with Internet of Things (IoT) edge cloud orchestration has significantly enhanced the performance, scalability, and modularity of healthcare applications. However, despite the efficiency benefits provided by microservices architecture, substantial security vulnerabilities persist, particularly in the face of the threat of quantum computing. Quantum algorithms, such as Shor’s and Grover’s, pose a significant risk to conventional encryption schemes, potentially compromising the integrity and confidentiality of healthcare data distributed across edge cloud environments. To address these critical concerns, we propose AQ-ResCon: an Adaptive Quantum-Resistant Lattice-Based Key Agreement Protocol designed for secure and resilient distributed container orchestration. AQ-ResCon leverages the hardness of the Learning With Errors (LWE) problem in lattice-based cryptography to provide a robust defence against quantum attacks. We further introduce the AQ-ResCon Scheduler Algorithm, which efficiently manages and executes healthcare workloads across decentralised IoT-edge-cloud nodes, ensuring secure data flow and orchestration. Extensive testbed experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance and security effectiveness of AQ-ResCon under realistic containerised healthcare scenarios. Results demonstrate that AQ-ResCon achieves up to 36% improvement in scheduling efficiency, 41% reduction in key compromise rates, and 28% lower latency compared to existing quantum-vulnerable orchestration protocols. Additionally, the AQ-ResCon protocol maintained consistent performance under simulated quantum attack conditions, validating its adaptability and resilience. These outcomes confirm that AQ-ResCon is a viable, secure, and future-proof solution for safeguarding microservices-based healthcare applications against evolving quantum threats in edge cloud environments.