A Comparative Evaluation of Symmetric Cryptography Algorithms for Resource-Constrained Devices

Abstract

Data security in the Internet of Things (IoT) is crucial for protecting both the devices and the data they transmit over the network. Nevertheless, security is often overlooked in this context, leaving systems vulnerable to cyberattacks that can compromise information confidentiality and integrity. This work focuses on a use case of an environment remote monitoring system for disaster prevention, in which information must be confidential and intact. The AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and Speck cryptographic algorithm families are evaluated in both traditional and memory-optimized implementations, targeting data confidentiality. The algorithms are assessed through practical experiments on two resource-constrained hardware platforms. Transmission throughput, estimated energy consumption, execution time, and memory usage are evaluated. Results show that the Speck family executes more quickly, has lower estimated energy consumption, and occupies less memory space than AES in both platforms.