Efficiency and Security Evaluation of Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithms for Resource-Constrained IoT Devices.

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Embedded Systems

Background:

• The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices necessitates robust security solutions.
• Lightweight Cryptography (LWC) is crucial for enhancing privacy and confidentiality in IoT ecosystems.
• Selecting the optimal LWC algorithm is challenging due to numerous options and varying performance characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the performance and security robustness of three distinct LWC algorithms: AES-128, SPECK, and ASCON.
• To evaluate these algorithms on IoT boards with limited computational power and memory.
• To provide data-driven insights for selecting appropriate cryptographic solutions for IoT applications.

Main Methods:

• Performance evaluation of AES-128, SPECK, and ASCON based on execution time and memory utilization.
• Latency and throughput measurements for each algorithm under constrained IoT environments.
• Assessment of security robustness in the context of resource limitations.

Main Results:

• SPECK exhibited superior performance metrics compared to AES-128 and ASCON on resource-constrained IoT platforms.
• The study identified key performance differences influencing algorithm suitability for specific IoT applications.
• SPECK offers a favorable balance between security and performance for devices with limited capabilities.

Conclusions:

• SPECK emerges as a highly suitable lightweight cryptography algorithm for resource-constrained IoT devices.
• Informed selection of LWC algorithms is critical for optimizing security and performance in IoT deployments.
• Further research can explore other LWC candidates and advanced security considerations for IoT.