Analysis and Validation of Lightweight Authentication Algorithm

Abstract

The Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) is extensively used in several industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Using heavy-weight algorithms is not feasible in resource-constrained IoT environments, and lightweight solutions are vulnerable to security attacks. The trade-off between computing cost and security strength plays a significant role in deciding the right solution. Therefore, developing a lightweight security mechanism with a higher security level is paramount. Therefore, a lightweight authentication with Two-way Encryption for Secure Transmission in CoAP Protocol (LATEST) was proposed to achieve secure data transfer with a lightweight security mechanism. The proposed LATEST ensures high confidentiality and integrity against modification, impersonation, and replay attacks. Security analysis and validation tests are performed with the help of validation tools to measure the strength of the proposed LATEST mechanism. Testing and validation proved that the performance and security level improved significantly.