Secure Cloud Data Access: Unifying Quantum Key Distribution and Attribute-Based Encryption for Enhanced Data Protection

In today's advanced and technologically advanced world, cloud computing has emerged as a popular platform for managing and maintaining data, information, and services worldwide. Therefore, it is essential to deal with security concerns and develop sufficient procedures to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data. This study proposes a secure cloud data access paradigm that uses QKD and attribute-based encryption (ABE) to address these issues. The study uses ABE to encrypt user information and ensure its safety during transmission and storage. Moreover, the quantum key is used to access cloud-based information. In addition, the quantum channel ensures the safe transfer of keys between nodes. The proposed model is simulated using MATLAB. The results are compared to the current state of the art regarding various performance parameters like encryption and decryption time, key generation time, etc. The simulation results show that the suggested model is superior to the current state of the art. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.