Dual-Mode Anonymous Access Control for IoT-Enabled Energy Systems: A Trust-Based Zero-Trust Approach

The integration of IoT sensing in energy systems has created critical security challenges for sensitive operational data, particularly in industrial energy networks where anonymous access control must balance privacy protection with system reliability. Traditional approaches suffer from high performance overhead and vulnerability to cyberattacks, posing significant risks to energy infrastructure. This study proposes a dynamic anonymous access control framework combining dual-mode single-packet authentication with adaptive trust evaluation. Our method achieves 37% lower communication overhead and 41% reduced computational costs compared to UDP-based SDP schemes, while maintaining robust security through continuous trust assessment. Experimental results demonstrate the framework’s effectiveness in protecting energy system data flows against identity tracing and unauthorized access, making it particularly suitable for smart grid and industrial energy applications where both efficiency and security are paramount. The proposed solution advances the state-of-the-art in zero-trust architectures for critical energy infrastructure.