VDNABDS, A DNA-Based Cryptographic Protocol for Enhancing Cloud Security

Summary

The goal of the VDNABDS protocol is to enhance cloud security by using DNA-based encryption techniques to generate fast, unbreakable keys. It aims to protect sensitive data against brute-force and quantum attacks while ensuring high performance, scalability, and seamless integration with modern cloud systems.

Abstract

Modern cloud storage systems often struggle to balance security and performance-strong encryption tends to slow down operations, while faster solutions can compromise data safety. To solve this, we developed Variational DNA-Based Data Security (VDNABDS), a next-generation encryption system inspired by the biological structure of DNA. Instead of relying solely on traditional mathematical algorithms, this method converts user-specific information into DNA-like sequences using the four nucleotides (A, T, C, G), then applies smart shuffling and transformation techniques to secure cloud-stored files. This method blends dynamic key generation with bio-inspired patterns, achieving rapid encryption without sacrificing protection. In testing, this method generated secure keys in just 5 ms, which is 15 times faster than existing models like Cloud Security with Dynamic Encryption Sequences (CSDES), and completed full encryption in 4 s, even under high user loads of nearly 1,000 simultaneous users. The proposed Method also provides exceptional defense against cyber threats, offering 1 x 10³⁸ unique key combinations-making brute-force and quantum attacks practically impossible. Its adaptive design constantly updates security patterns, making it highly resilient to intrusion. Importantly, it integrates smoothly with existing cloud platforms, enabling fast data access while maintaining strong privacy safeguards. Real-world experiments showed VDNABDS consistently outperforms traditional encryption models in both speed and reliability. With its robust, scalable, and hardware-independent architecture, this system is especially suited for industries like healthcare, finance, and defense, where data sensitivity is paramount. Looking ahead, we aim to expand this biological encryption model to smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, paving the way for a new era of fast, secure, and quantum-resistant data protection.

Introduction

Cloud computing has become essential for modern data services, offering flexibility, scalability, and efficiency. However, with this widespread adoption comes increased exposure to cyber threats, especially those targeting data confidentiality and integrity. Traditional encryption algorithms such as AES-256 and RSA, though widely used, face growing limitations. These methods require heavy computational resources and are vulnerable to evolving technologies like quantum computing¹. This creates an urgent need for novel encryption systems that are lightweight, scalable, and future-proof.

DNA-based cryptography has emerg....

Protocol

This research did not involve human participants, animals, or the use of biological samples. All testing and evaluation were carried out with artificially generated data, including randomly created identifiers such as MAC addresses, dates of birth, and password strings. No personal or sensitive information was collected, retained, or examined at any stage. Within the VDNABDS protocol (Figure 1), input-based keys were restricted to synthetic, non-traceable values, serving only to illustrate performance and functional outcomes in a controlled setting. Every step of the study was conducted in accordance with institutional policies on cyberse....

Results

The proposed VDNABDS protocol was evaluated through a series of simulated cloud environment experiments to assess its performance against both traditional and other DNA-based cryptographic methods. Evaluation metrics included key generation time, encryption and decryption speeds, key entropy, and scalability under varying user loads¹¹.

Performance comparison with existing schemes

Discussion

The emergence of DNA-based encryption has opened a novel frontier in post-quantum cryptography. However, real-world adoption has lagged due to limitations in reproducibility, scalability, and hardware dependence. Techniques such as those proposed by Ahmed et al. and Sharma et al. addressed certain cloud vulnerabilities using DNA and blockchain models but lacked dynamic key handling and showed limited resilience to high concurrency environments^18,19. VDNABDS overc.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
JAVA	Oracle
CloudSim	Github
Python	Python software foundation