US NIST Unveils Winning Encryption Algorithm for IoT Data Protection
fliptop writes:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that ASCON is the winning bid for the "lightweight cryptography" program to find the best algorithm to protect small IoT (Internet of Things) devices with limited hardware resources:
Small IoT devices are becoming increasingly popular and omnipresent, used in wearable tech, "smart home" applications, etc. However, they are still used to store and handle sensitive personal information, such as health data, financial details, and more.
That said, implementing a standard for encrypting data is crucial in securing people's data. However, the weak chips inside these devices call for an algorithm that can deliver robust encryption at very little computational power.
"The world is moving toward using small devices for lots of tasks ranging from sensing to identification to machine control, and because these small devices have limited resources, they need security that has a compact implementation," stated Kerry McKay, a computer scientist at NIST.
[...] ASCON was eventually picked as the winner for being flexible, encompassing seven families, energy efficient, speedy on weak hardware, and having low overhead for short messages.
NIST also considered that the algorithm had withstood the test of time, having been developed in 2014 by a team of cryptographers from Graz University of Technology, Infineon Technologies, Lamarr Security Research, and Radboud University, and winning the CAESAR cryptographic competition's "lightweight encryption" category in 2019.
More info at the algorithm's Website and the technical paper submitted to NIST in May 2021.
Related:
- NIST Drafts Revised Guidelines for Digital Identification in Federal Systems
- NIST Calls Time on SHA-1, Sets 2030 Deadline
Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2
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