Ensuring the security and privacy of RFID systems is paramount to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. In addition, addressing the insecurity of public keys in RFID tags and preventing server-side tag distinction requires a multifaceted approach. This paper proposes an RFID-enabled protocol, calledRISE, Resource-Efficient RFID Security Protocol inIoT withS-Box andElliptic Curve Cryptography, that integrates S-box and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) to enhance the security of RFID communication. The protocol leverages S-boxes to introduce non-linearity and confusion, thereby thwarting potential attacks such as cryptanalysis and replay attacks. Additionally, ECC is employed for key exchange and authentication, leveraging computational efficiency and strong security properties. Formal proofs and analysis results demonstrate thatRISEprovides robust security and can effectively resist various types of attacks.RISEpresents notable improvements, with an average 51.18% reduction in computational overhead compared to similar protocols. This advancement not only boosts performance but also enhances resource efficiency.

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV), facilitated by vehicle communication devices, provides a plethora of applications, including traffic alerts and real-time updates, within intelligent transportation systems. Integrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) allows IoV to reach new heights, offering benefits such as reduced infrastructure load, rapid emergency response, resource management, and enhanced network performance. Yet, this interconnected world faces substantial security and performance challenges, especially in ensuring secure authentication and efficiency and protecting user privacy. To address these concerns, this paper proposes UMAPE, a secure and efficient authentication protocol assisted by UAVs in an IoV environment. The UMAPE employs elliptic curve cryptography with a hash function to ensure lightweight, more secure and efficient authentication between vehicles, UAVs and the Road Side Units (RSUs), which act as an edge node with admissible overhead. For security, a formal security proof using a random oracle model, which proves the robustness of the session key, and a formal security verification by the Scyther simulation tool. Furthermore, a performance evaluation is performed to assess the efficiency of the protocol, and the findings indicate that the UMAPE reduced computation and energy overhead with, on average, fewer 45.80% computation and 45.05% energy overhead compared to state-of-the-art solutions.