A Symmetric-Only Three-Factor Authentication Protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks: Specification, Symbolic Verification and Quantum-Resistance Analysis

This study proposes a symmetric-only three-factor authentication protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) designed to strengthen security against both conventional and quantum-enabled attacks. The protocol integrates password-based authentication, biometric protection, secure key establishment, SHA3-256-based key derivation, and AES-256 authenticated encryption. Its security is evaluated through symbolic verification, adversarial testing, and performance analysis. The results demonstrate secure session establishment, resistance to replay and authentication attacks, and practical computational and communication overhead. The study also examines quantum-resistance based on the security properties of modern 256-bit symmetric cryptographic primitives.