The PUF-based authentication protocol is designed for any system where the end devices have low memory and computational power. Because of resource constraints, it is not easy to implement cryptographic algorithms to provide security to the entire system. The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a system where we can see this problem. The IoT has nodes or sensor layers, which consist of resource-constrained devices that perform primary tasks like monitoring.
A Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) is the hardware used in low-cost authentication and key generation by extracting secret numbers from the integrated circuit without needing storage devices. PUF provides security to the devices, where the adversary extracts the secret key from the device through a physical attack. The PUF extracts the secret key from the random delay variations from the wires and transistors through the fabricated integrated circuits. These variations are unavoidable in the manufacturing processes of an integrated circuit, and PUF uses these variations to extract secret numbers, which are used in low-cost authentication.
LWM-Auth protocol is designed to provide security for resource-constrained devices by leveraging PUF as a root of trust and ASCON as a cryptographic algorithm. It can be used in any device where physical attack and low computational cost are the primary issues, while security and privacy are more of a concern.
Last Update: 26 Jan 2025