Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithms

In this report, we survey the latest developments, including work-in-progress, on lightweight cryptographic algorithms, such as block ciphers and cryptographic protocols aimed at resource-constrained devices such as RFID tags and sensor networks. This is a multidisciplinary topic with contributions from researchers in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Microelectronics.

Our overview includes a brief description of some designs, a history of their cryptanalysis, an extensive bibliographic survey and comparative hardware performance figures of some of the most prominent lightweight cryptographic algorithms known to date.

Lightweight cryptography represents a very active area of cryptographic research. Its importance is related to the current trend of pervasive/ubiquitous computing, which means an ever increasing demand for computing capabilities in diverse, wireless and low-resource scenarios, in both civilian and military applications, including mobile phones, smart cards, toll collection, animal and cargo tracking and electronic passports, to name a few.