A Security Improved IoT Authentication Protocol Based on Ascon Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithms

Recently, Rostampour et al. proposed an IoT authentication protocol leveraging lightweight cryptographic algorithms, demonstrating its superior security and performance compared to other protocols. However, their protocol remains vulnerable to various attacks. Herein, we propose a security improved IoT authentication protocol using an AEAD scheme and a hash scheme of Ascon, which has been selected by NIST in 2023 for future standardization of the lightweight cryptography. Our protocol offers improved security without significant computation and communication overhead.