Multi-Factor Authentication Protocols for Modern Network Landscapes

This manuscript proposes a quantum-safe multi-factor authentication (MFA) protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) and IoT environments, integrating password, biometric, and smartcard factors secured by SHA3-256, AES-256-CBC, HMAC-SHA3-256, and PBKDF2-SHA256 cryptographic primitives across three protocol phases — Registration, Login, and Mutual Authentication. Formal security verification using BAN Logic confirms all six authentication goals, and quantum threat analysis demonstrates 100% mitigation of Grover and Shor algorithm attacks, achieving 128-bit post-quantum security. Experimental results show an execution time of 2.1 ms and energy consumption of 1.35 mJ/operation, outperforming related quantum-safe protocols including Post-Quantum SSH (15.2 ms), Signal PQXDH (12.0 ms), and 5G-AKA-HPQC (12.8 ms), confirming the protocol's suitability for resource-constrained deployments.