Advanced Lightweight Encryption Key Management Algorithms for IoT Networks

Abstract

An Internet of Things (IoT) Network is a collection of sensors interconnected through a network that process and exchange data. IoT networks need sufficient resources to cope with the growing security challenges. In most cases, cryptography is implemented by symmetric and asymmetric encryption methods to cope with these security issues. Symmetric cryptography requires transmitting an encryption key to the receiver to decrypt the received encrypted messages. Consequently, secured key distribution techniques are the core for providing security and establishing a secured connection among objects. Encryption keys are frequently changed through key distribution mechanisms. Encrypted key exchange is a protocol that allows two parties who share the same key to communicate over an insecure network. This chapter outlines the challenges and core requirements for a robust key distribution mechanism, beginning with evaluating existing solutions and then detailing three innovative, efficient, and lightweight methods that balance the security level, network performance, and low processing overhead impact.