Analysis of NIST Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithms Performance in IoT Security Environments based on MQTT

In this vision paper, we analyze the protocols used in the Internet of Things (IoT), encryption methods, and their combination for exploitation. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an important paradigm of modern technology that connects physical objects and devices into a single network where they can exchange data and interact without direct human intervention. The Internet of Things is used in a variety of areas, from controlling household appliances to monitoring the condition of objects in industry and agriculture. The MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) protocol was used in this work, which is a lightweight protocol for transmitting messages in IoT networks. It allows for efficient data exchange between devices, ensuring low energy consumption and minimizing bandwidth. The following ciphers were used to ensure the security of information in IoT networks: ASCON and Grain128-AEAD. ASCON is used to encrypt and authenticate data, ensuring its confidentiality and integrity. Grain128-AEAD is also used for data protection, providing a high level of security and encryption. This research work simulates an IoT environment based on the MQTT communication protocol and tests the performance of lightweight cryptographic algorithms. As evident from the results, encryption is an essential part of security for IoT -based communication systems and such lightweight algorithms could help in boosting the overall performance with low to none cases of failure. This paper looks to envision the suitability of these lightweight cryptographic (LWC) security and privacy solutions for IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).