A Verifiably Secure and Lightweight Device-to-Device (D2D) Authentication Protocol for the Resource-Constrained IoT Networks

Due to the growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices on networks with limited resources, developing a safe and effective authentication method for Device-to-Device (D2D) communication has become necessary. Conventional authentication methods frequently have high communication and processing overhead, which makes them inappropriate for resource-constrained IoT networks. An innovative, lightweight, and verifiably secure D2D authentication protocol designed for resource-constrained IoT networks is proposed in this research. The protocol minimizes energy and computational costs while ensuring strong security by utilizing mutual authentication and effective cryptographic primitives. According to security analysis, the proposed protocol resists widespread attacks, such as DoS, replay, man-in-the-middle, and impersonation attacks. Additionally, the accuracy and security features of the protocol are confirmed by formal verification using commonly used techniques such as the ROR model and ProVerif validation. It is a feasible option for IoT deployments as performance examinations show considerable improvements over current systems regarding energy consumption, communication, computation, storage, and bandwidth utilization.