Efficient Security Algorithm for Provisioning Constrained Internet of Things (IoT) Devices

Addressing the security concerns of constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as client- side encryption and secure provisioning remains a work in progress. IoT devices characterized by low power and processing capabilities do not exactly fit into the provisions of existing security schemes, as classical security algorithms are built on complex cryptographic functions that are too complex for constrained IoT devices. Consequently, the option for constrained IoT devices lies in either developing new security schemes or modifying existing ones as lightweight. This work presents an improved version of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) known as the Efficient Security Algorithm for Power-constrained IoT devices, which addressed some of the security concerns of constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as client-side encryption and secure provisioning. With cloud computing being the key enabler for the massive provisioning of IoT devices, encryption of data generated by IoT devices before onward transmission to cloud platforms of choice is being advocated via client-side encryption. However, coping with trade-offs remain a notable challenge with Lightweight algorithms, making the innovation of cheaper secu- rity schemes without compromise to security a high desirable in the secure provisioning of IoT devices. A cryptanalytic overview of the consequence of complexity reduction with mathematical justification, while using a Secure Element (ATECC608A) as a trade-off is given. The extent of constraint of a typical IoT device is investigated by comparing the Laptop/SAMG55 implemen- tations of the Efficient algorithm for constrained IoT devices. An analysis of the implementation and comparison of the Algorithm to lightweight algorithms is given. Based on experimentation results, resource constrain impacts a 657% increase in the encryption completion time on the IoT device in comparison to the laptop implementation; of the Efficient algorithm for Constrained IoT devices, which is 0.9 times cheaper than CLEFIA and 35% cheaper than the AES in terms of the encryption completion times, compared to current results in literature at 26%, and with a 93% of avalanche effect rate, well above a recommended 50% in literature. The algorithm is utilised for client-side encryption to provision the device onto AWS IoT core

Performance Evaluation of Class A LoRa Communications

Recently, Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) have attracted a great interest due to the need of connecting more and more devices to the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). This thesis explores LoRa’s suitability and performance within this paradigm, through a theoretical approach as well as through practical data acquired in multiple field campaigns. First, a performance evaluation model of LoRa class A devices is proposed. The model is meant to characterize the performance of LoRa’s Uplink communications where both physical layer (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) are taken into account. By admitting a uniform spatial distribution of the devices, the performance characterization of the PHY-layer is studied through the derivation of the probability of successfully decoding multiple frames that were transmitted with the same spreading factor and at the same time. The MAC performance is evaluated by admitting that the inter-arrival time of the frames generated by each LoRa device is exponentially distributed. A typical LoRaWAN operating scenario is considered, where the transmissions of LoRa Class A devices suffer path-loss, shadowing and Rayleigh fading. Numerical results obtained with the modeling methodology are compared with simulation results, and the validation of the proposed model is discussed for different levels of traffic load and PHY-layer conditions. Due to the possibility of capturing multiple frames simultaneously, the maximum achievable performance of the PHY/MAC LoRa scheme according to the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) is considered. The contribution of this model is primarily focused on studying the average number of successfully received LoRa frames, which establishes a performance upper bound due to the optimal capture condition considered in the PHY-layer. In the second stage of this work a practical LoRa point-to-point network was deployed to characterize LoRa’s performance in a practical way. Performance was assessed through data collected in the course of several experiments, positioning the transmitter in diverse locations and environments. This work reports statistics of the received packets and different metrics gathered from the physical-layer

Performance-efficient cryptographic primitives in constrained devices

PhD ThesisResource-constrained devices are small, low-cost, usually fixed function and very limitedresource devices. They are constrained in terms of memory, computational capabilities, communication bandwidth and power. In the last decade, we have seen widespread use of these devices in health care, smart homes and cities, sensor networks, wearables, automotive systems, and other fields. Consequently, there has been an increase in the research activities in the security of these devices, especially in how to design and implement cryptography that meets the devices’ extreme resource constraints. Cryptographic primitives are low-level cryptographic algorithms used to construct security protocols that provide security, authenticity, and integrity of the messages. The building blocks of the primitives, which are built heavily on mathematical theories, are computationally complex and demands considerable computing resources. As a result, most of these primitives are either too large to fit on resource-constrained devices or highly inefficient when implemented on them. There have been many attempts to address this problem in the literature where cryptography engineers modify conventional primitives into lightweight versions or build new lightweight primitives from scratch. Unfortunately, both solutions suffer from either reduced security, low performance, or high implementation cost. This thesis investigates the performance of the conventional cryptographic primitives and explores the effect of their different building blocks and design choices on their performance. It also studies the impact of the various implementations approaches and optimisation techniques on their performance. Moreover, it investigates the limitations imposed by the tight processing and storage capabilities in constrained devices in implementing cryptography. Furthermore, it evaluates the performance of many newly designed lightweight cryptographic primitives and investigates the resources required to run them with acceptable performance. The thesis aims to provide an insight into the performance of the cryptographic primitives and the resource needed to run them with acceptable performance. This will help in providing solutions that balance performance, security, and resource requirements for these devices.The Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh, and the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau in Londo

Security of Ubiquitous Computing Systems

The chapters in this open access book arise out of the EU Cost Action project Cryptacus, the objective of which was to improve and adapt existent cryptanalysis methodologies and tools to the ubiquitous computing framework. The cryptanalysis implemented lies along four axes: cryptographic models, cryptanalysis of building blocks, hardware and software security engineering, and security assessment of real-world systems. The authors are top-class researchers in security and cryptography, and the contributions are of value to researchers and practitioners in these domains. This book is open access under a CC BY license

Security of Ubiquitous Computing Systems

The chapters in this open access book arise out of the EU Cost Action project Cryptacus, the objective of which was to improve and adapt existent cryptanalysis methodologies and tools to the ubiquitous computing framework. The cryptanalysis implemented lies along four axes: cryptographic models, cryptanalysis of building blocks, hardware and software security engineering, and security assessment of real-world systems. The authors are top-class researchers in security and cryptography, and the contributions are of value to researchers and practitioners in these domains. This book is open access under a CC BY license