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Certificateless Encryption Supporting Equality Test with Cryptographic Reverse Firewalls in Smart City
Research Article  ·  Published: 30 March 2026
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Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2026: 66-82
Research Article Open Access

Certificateless Encryption Supporting Equality Test with Cryptographic Reverse Firewalls in Smart City

by
Rashad Elhabob Rashad Elhabob 1 ORCID
Ahmed Elkhalil Ahmed Elkhalil 3 ORCID
Abdalla Hadabi Abdalla Hadabi 4,5
Mazin Taha Mazin Taha 2
Negalign Wake Hundera Negalign Wake Hundera 2 ORCID
Nabeil Eltayieb Nabeil Eltayieb 1 * ORCID
1 College of Computer Science and Information Technology, Karary University, Omdurman, Sudan
2 School of Information and Software Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
3 Qilu Institute of Technology, Jinan 250202, China
4 Yibin Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, Yibin 644000, China
5 School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611756, China
* Corresponding Author: Nabeil Eltayieb, [email protected]
Volume 2, Issue 1
Volume 2, Issue 1 2026
Received: 17 December 2025 Accepted: 24 March 2026 Published: 30 March 2026 CrossMark
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DOI: 10.62762/JRSC.2025.581803
ARK: ark:/57805/jrsc.2025.581803

Article Information

Published in Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing
Volume/Issue Volume 2, Issue 1, 2026
Pages 66-82

Abstract

In the context of smart cities, sensors are pivotal for the collection and analysis of health data within smart healthcare systems. Despite their importance, securing this data for cloud storage poses significant challenges, particularly in terms of data searchability and encryption. Our paper introduces a novel solution, namely certificateless encryption supporting equality test with cryptographic reverse firewalls (CLE-ET-CRF). This protocol allows cloud servers to perform equality tests on encrypted data without compromising its confidentiality, effectively mitigating risks like offline message recovery attacks (OMRA) and algorithm substitution attacks (ASAs). By eliminating the need for traditional certificate management and addressing key escrow concerns, CLE-ET-CRF provides a secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving mechanism for managing healthcare data in smart city ecosystems. Our evaluation confirms that the protocol meets the high standards required for privacy and efficiency in smart healthcare applications.

Graphical Abstract

Certificateless Encryption Supporting Equality Test with Cryptographic Reverse Firewalls in Smart City

Keywords

equality test searchable encryption smart healthcare certificateless cloud server CRF

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Funding

This work was supported without any funding.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

AI Use Statement

The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

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Cite This Article

APA Style
Elhabob, R., Elkhalil, A., Hadabi, A., Taha, M., Hundera, N. W.,& Eltayieb, N. (2026). Certificateless Encryption Supporting Equality Test with Cryptographic Reverse Firewalls in Smart City. Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing, 2(1), 66–82. https://doi.org/10.62762/JRSC.2025.581803
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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Elhabob, Rashad
AU  - Elkhalil, Ahmed
AU  - Hadabi, Abdalla
AU  - Taha, Mazin
AU  - Hundera, Negalign Wake
AU  - Eltayieb, Nabeil
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/30
TI  - Certificateless Encryption Supporting Equality Test with Cryptographic Reverse Firewalls in Smart City
JO  - Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing
T2  - Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing
JF  - Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
SP  - 66
EP  - 82
DO  - 10.62762/JRSC.2025.581803
UR  - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JRSC.2025.581803
KW  - equality test
KW  - searchable encryption
KW  - smart healthcare
KW  - certificateless
KW  - cloud server
KW  - CRF
AB  - In the context of smart cities, sensors are pivotal for the collection and analysis of health data within smart healthcare systems. Despite their importance, securing this data for cloud storage poses significant challenges, particularly in terms of data searchability and encryption. Our paper introduces a novel solution, namely certificateless encryption supporting equality test with cryptographic reverse firewalls (CLE-ET-CRF). This protocol allows cloud servers to perform equality tests on encrypted data without compromising its confidentiality, effectively mitigating risks like offline message recovery attacks (OMRA) and algorithm substitution attacks (ASAs). By eliminating the need for traditional certificate management and addressing key escrow concerns, CLE-ET-CRF provides a secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving mechanism for managing healthcare data in smart city ecosystems. Our evaluation confirms that the protocol meets the high standards required for privacy and efficiency in smart healthcare applications.
SN  - 3070-6424
PB  - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge
LA  - English
ER  -
BibTeX Format
Compatible with LaTeX, BibTeX, and other reference managers
@article{Elhabob2026Certificat,
  author = {Rashad Elhabob and Ahmed Elkhalil and Abdalla Hadabi and Mazin Taha and Negalign Wake Hundera and Nabeil Eltayieb},
  title = {Certificateless Encryption Supporting Equality Test with Cryptographic Reverse Firewalls in Smart City},
  journal = {Journal of Reliable and Secure Computing},
  year = {2026},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {66-82},
  doi = {10.62762/JRSC.2025.581803},
  url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JRSC.2025.581803},
  abstract = {In the context of smart cities, sensors are pivotal for the collection and analysis of health data within smart healthcare systems. Despite their importance, securing this data for cloud storage poses significant challenges, particularly in terms of data searchability and encryption. Our paper introduces a novel solution, namely certificateless encryption supporting equality test with cryptographic reverse firewalls (CLE-ET-CRF). This protocol allows cloud servers to perform equality tests on encrypted data without compromising its confidentiality, effectively mitigating risks like offline message recovery attacks (OMRA) and algorithm substitution attacks (ASAs). By eliminating the need for traditional certificate management and addressing key escrow concerns, CLE-ET-CRF provides a secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving mechanism for managing healthcare data in smart city ecosystems. Our evaluation confirms that the protocol meets the high standards required for privacy and efficiency in smart healthcare applications.},
  keywords = {equality test, searchable encryption, smart healthcare, certificateless, cloud server, CRF},
  issn = {3070-6424},
  publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}

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