The development and subsequent proliferation of devices which are able to directly connect to the Internet has led to a new computing and communication paradigm known as the Internet of Things (IoT). In IoT, devices are supposed to autonomously monitor and control several aspects of our daily lives in almost all sectors: transportation, healthcare, smart homes, and the environment to name a few. As a consequence of this pervasive monitoring, an efficient storage and processing technology is required to deal with the huge volume of data continually being generated.

By exploiting computing services as a commodity, cloud computing has arisen as a perfect solution, able to successfully store and process data on an incredible scale and enable analytics tools and information visualization techniques to be applied in data analysis. Nevertheless, for cloud computing to realize its potential, the IoT paradigm has to firstly establish ubiquitous access through both legacy and evolving wireless networks (the so-called heterogeneous wireless networks or HetNets), in such a way that data transmission can be efficiently performed between mobile devices and cloud computing centers. Secondly, it is imperative that data is securely stored in the cloud. Thirdly, stakeholders and users need to be able to securely access, retrieve, and share data. In this sense, emerging 5G systems are expected to feature closer collaboration between mobile network operators (MNOs) and cloud service providers (CSPs) to meet the communication, computational, and security requirements of modern mobile applications and services.

Cryptography is at the core of data protection in this 5G ecosystem. Theoretical Aspects of Cryptography (TAC), such as cryptography primitives and protocols, cryptanalysis, and cryptanalytic engines, account for the main security tools involved in user authentication, data access control, and data transfer and storage management. In cryptography, a strong cross-fertilization prevails between innovative research outcomes on the one hand and their applications on the other.

This special issue welcomes original research articles and review articles that discuss the applications of Theoretical Aspects of Cryptography (TAC) in relation to securing user authentication, access control, and data transfer and storage management in emerging 5G systems.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Survey of TAC in IoT and 5G systems
• Using TAC for securing user authentication in IoT and 5G systems
• Using TAC for securing access control in IoT and 5G systems
• Using TAC for securing data protection in IoT and 5G systems
• Using TAC for securing data integrity in IoT and 5G systems
• Anonymity and secret sharing in IoT and 5G systems
• Data storage security in IoT and 5G systems
• Data hiding and data deduplication techniques for storage security in IoT and 5G systems
• Digital signatures for user security in IoT and 5G systems
• Online fraud and web security in IoT and 5G systems
• Proof of storage and proof of ownership in IoT and 5G systems
• Cryptographic mechanisms in IoT
• Data transfer security from user equipment to cloud systems in IoT
• Secure spectrum sharing techniques in 5G systems
• Blockchain technology for securing IoT and 5G systems
• Secure mathematical models for IoT and 5G systems