A Practical Evaluation on RSA and ECC-Based Cipher Suites for IoT High-Security Energy-Efficient Fog and Mist...

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Network Security
• Edge Computing

Background:

• Internet of Things (IoT) architectures are evolving towards edge-centric models, including fog and mist computing, to reduce cloud dependency.
• Mist computing, leveraging energy-efficient System-on-Chip (SoC) advancements, enables IoT end devices to perform complex data processing locally.
• Implementing robust, end-to-end security mechanisms is crucial for mist computing nodes to maintain security levels comparable to other architectures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present and evaluate a high-security, energy-efficient fog and mist computing architecture.
• To assess the performance of Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) cipher suites in a practical testbed.
• To provide guidelines for selecting secure and efficient cryptographic implementations for advanced IoT devices.

Main Methods:

• Development and evaluation of a novel fog and mist computing testbed.
• Implementation and comparison of TLS 1.2 ECC and RSA cipher suites on fog gateways and mist end devices.
• Measurement of energy consumption and data throughput for different security levels and cryptographic algorithms.

Main Results:

• Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) demonstrates superior performance over Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) in both energy consumption and data throughput across tested security levels.
• The selection of a specific ECC curve significantly impacts energy efficiency and data throughput, even at higher security levels.
• The proposed architecture and testbed provide a viable platform for evaluating advanced IoT security mechanisms.

Conclusions:

• ECC is a more efficient cryptographic choice than RSA for securing fog and mist computing environments.
• Careful selection of ECC curves is essential for optimizing performance in resource-constrained IoT devices.
• The research offers valuable insights and practical guidelines for developing secure and efficient mist computing implementations.