Systematic literature review: Trend analysis on the design of lightweight block cipher

Abstract

Lightweight block ciphers have become a standard for security protections on IoT devices. Advanced technology is required to secure the data, thus encryption is the method that can provide information security. From previous studies, comparisons of lightweight algorithms in various literature focus on their performance and implementation. However, a lack of analysis has been done on the relationship between the algorithm components and their security strength. This information is crucial for developers in designing secure algorithms. In this paper, a comprehensive systematic literature review on 101 existing lightweight algorithms is presented. This review focuses on the security aspect of lightweight algorithms that cover the identification of secure design components based on substitution and permutation. Security analysis and the evolution of lightweight algorithms are also presented. This research includes the results and discussions to observe the selections of substitution and permutation functions to analyse their impact on the security strength. Recommendations from the developer’s insight on methods and considerations for designing an algorithm are also presented. Findings from the research indicate that various techniques can be used to develop a secure algorithm. Most importantly, an algorithm must be provided with confusion and diffusion properties in the design to ensure sufficient security.