NIST Issues Lightweight Cryptography Standard to Secure Small Devices

A new lightweight cryptography standard has been finalized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), aiming to enhance the security of billions of connected devices worldwide. It is intended to provide protection for small, resource-constrained technologies that have limited resources.

Whether they be Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, RFID tags, or even medical implants, these devices have a limited memory, power, and processing capacity, allowing them to be vulnerable to modern cyber attacks due to their limited memory, power, and processing capability. 

As a result, NIST has issued Special Publication 800-232, which establishes Lightweight Cryptography Standards for Constrained Devices based on Ascon.

An authentication framework as part of this framework allows for the use of tools for authenticated encryption and hashing that minimize energy consumption, memory usage, and computation demands without compromising on robust security. 

The Ascon algorithm family, which forms the basis for the standard, was originally developed in 2014 by Graz University of Technology researchers, Infineon Technologies researchers, and Radboud University researchers.

Ascon has already proven its resilience by participating in the international CAESAR competition which was launched in 2023, and has since emerged as a leader in lightweight encryption, now elevated to an official benchmark for securing the next generation of connected tec

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