Amirkabir University of Technology AUT Journal of Electrical Engineering 2588-2910 Articles in Press 2026 08 09 A Layered Cryptographic Model for IoT-Cloud Security Using Chaotic Puma-Optimized AES-256 and Elliptic Curve Cryptography 6146 10.22060/eej.2026.25369.5916 EN Murugan Devika Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - 600017 0009-0003-6618-1860 Vairamani Sai Shanmugaraja Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - 600017 Veeramalai Natarajan Rajavarman Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - 600017 Ganapathy Senthil Kumar Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Panimalar Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - 600123 Journal Article 2025 12 31 The surge in use and access to the Internet of Things (IoT) devices has created many challenges for securing data communications particularly when they interface with cloud-based infrastructures. Traditional means of encrypting data are inadequate due to the limited resources of IoT nodes and the constantly changing nature of cyber threats; especially with the potential emergence of quantum computers. To overcome these security challenges, a hybrid cryptographic framework has been developed (chaotic Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256) /Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) with Puma encryption), which will also include quantum-resilient cryptographic principles to ensure secure key creation and exchange regardless of future quantum threats. An important part of this approach is the ability to generate secure cryptographic keys using a chaotic Puma optimization approach. The core cryptographic algorithm is the asymmetric AES-256 encryption algorithm which provides fast, Block-Based Data Encryption while the Asymmetric Cryptography handling secure keys exchange and digital signature validation for preventing Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) and Spoofing Attacks on Keys. Many assessments are performed on this model using java with metrics such as Encryption Time, Key Setup Time, Memory Overhead, Latency, and Error Propagation Rate. Test data will consist of same structured data from the Standard Dew Point Method and other sources, along with Real-World Sensor Emulation data. The results indicate that the proposed architecture has significant advantages over other solutions (PQC and DH) in terms of computational overhead, latency (minimal), and ability to resist data corruption over lossy channels. Furthermore, ECC’s small key sizes make it suitable for use to secure resource-constrained edge nodes without sacrificing strength. This research demonstrates that a layered cryptographic approach is both practical and offers a forward-compatible path to quantum-resistant systems for robust, scalable IoT-cloud security. The findings contribute to creating lightweight, secure, and resilient communication frameworks for the next generation of Cyber-Physical and IoT environments. https://eej.aut.ac.ir/article_6146_ba053350fe56ed93e64b3e769062b680.pdf