Securing the Future of 5G Smart Dust: Optimizing Cryptographic Algorithms for Ultra-Low SWaP Energy-Harvesting Devices

While 5G energy harvesting makes 5G smart dust possible, stretching computation across power cycles affects cryptographic algorithms. This effect may lead to new security issues that make the system vulnerable to adversary attacks. Therefore, security measures are needed to protect data at rest and in transit across the network. In this paper, we identify the security requirements of existing 5G networks and the best-of-breed cryptographic algorithms for ultra-low SWaP devices in an energy harvesting context. To do this, we quantify the performance vs. energy tradespace, investigate the device features that impact the tradespace the most, and assess the security impact when the attacker has access to intermediate results. Our open-source energy-harvesting-tolerant versions of the cryptographic algorithms provide algorithm and device recommendations and ultra-low SWaP energy-harvesting-device-optimized versions of the cryptographic algorithms.