Lightweight Cryptography
IoT devices become ubiquitous and need to exchange more and more data with data gathering and processing nexus in a secured way, for alarms, data storing, processing, monitoring, and to enable firmware updates and life cycle management.
In many cases IoT (Internet of things) devices rely on low power CPUs with limited memory footprint, often battery operated, and sometimes with limited opportunities – or no opportunity – to charge those batteries during the lifetime.
Such IoT devices may also be installed in places where access for maintenance is difficult. For such devices in particular, the need for low footprint cryptography solutions has been identified.
Lightweight Encryption Algorithm focuses on designing cryptographic algorithms and protocols that aim at balancing efficiency and resource usage in an optimal way in constrained environments such as IoT devices or low-power systems. It aims to provide robust security with minimized computational and memory requirements, enabling secure communication and data protection in resource-limited scenarios.
Lightweight cryptography: What is at stake?
Lightweight cryptography addresses the challenges of devices with limited processing power, memory, and energy constraints. Traditional cryptographic algorithms may be too resource-intensive for such devices. Lightweight cryptography emphasizes simplicity, low footprint while maintaining a sufficient level of security. It involves designing compact algorithms tailored for specific applications, promoting faster cryptographic operations without compromising the confidentiality and integrity of data in resource-constrained environments.
NIST
NIST has initiated in 2017 a process to solicit, evaluate and standardize Lightweight Cryptography algorithms, and after several years of submissions and evaluations, NIST announced in February 2023 the selection of the ASCON family for lightweight cryptography standardization.
Now that NIST has officially announced the selection of ASCON algorithms for authenticated encryption with associated data and optimal hashing functionalities, Secure-IC is proud to announce the availability of a first implementation for those algorithms, compliant with the latest proposal specifications from ASCON.
What is Secure-IC’s approach to lightweight cryptography?
Secure-IC has been at the forefront of Lightweight Cryptography research and has participated in the evaluation of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) candidates, searching for potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities, using its state-of-the-art LaboryzrTM evaluation platform.
The Secure-IC Light weight Cryptography solution supports the two primary algorithms proposed under the ASCON family: ASCON-128/HASH and ASCON-128A/HASHA, for both authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) and HASH modes of operation and is suitable for low-cost and low-power applications, with optimized silicon area usage.
This solution benefits from the embedded security knowledge of Secure-IC experts and already includes all the needed state-of-the art countermeasures, to protect efficiently the Lightweight Cryptography from state-of-the art physical attacks such as Side-Channel Attacks.
The uses cases of lightweight cryptography
- Secure boot for (battery operated) IoT devices
- Small size root of trust implementations
- Digital fingerprinting of messages
- RFID tag message counterfeiting protection
- Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication