Attribute-Based Encryption and Privacy-Preserving Frameworks for Post-Quantum Cross-Chain Blockchain IoT Security: A Comprehensive Survey

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) has created a huge amount of distributed data that needs to be securely stored, communicated among various stakeholders and accessed in a secure manner while preserving the privacy of the data. While blockchain offers decentralization, transparency, and immutability, current platforms still have vulnerabilities such as quantum computing attacks, cross-chain interoperability issues, and storage scalability and data management challenges. Decentralized storage can be achieved efficiently thanks to the integration of InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and blockchain, and quantum-resistant security and fine-grained access control are possible through Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Attribute-Based Encryption (ABE). Over the past seven years, 43 studies have been published from 2019 to 2026, which is analyzed and discussed in this paper to investigate the latest advancements in secure data storage and communication in the Internet of Things (IoT) field using post-quantum blockchain networks. It highlights important research areas, security concerns, and open challenges and offers a conceptual design of a blockchain–IPFS system that satisfies the requirements for scalable, interoperable, privacy-preserving and quantum-resistant IoT ecosystems.