Energy-efficient cryptography: application of KATAN

Sergey P. Panasenko, Sergey A. Smagin

Abstract: A security system should be adequate to the value of protected data. This principle is correct for the systems as a whole; and it also should be applied to the systems’ components, including cryptographic primitives. It is possible and required to make cryptographic operations energy-efficient. High levels of security should be used only where it is required. From this point of view it is very promising to use the approaches of lightweight cryptography. Lightweight cryptography includes algorithms intended for use in devices with low or extremely low resources. Another concept of energy-efficient cryptography could be recycling of cryptoprimitives. “Recycling” means reusing existing cryptographic primitives or their elements while developing new cryptoprimitives. In this paper we consider the KATAN lightweight block cipher, which we propose to use as a base for various cryptographic functions: besides block cipher, these are PRNG/stream cipher, and the hash function. This set of functions is sufficient to develop a security system with a given security level; at the same time they lay down very low resource requirements and, consequently, can be considered as lightweight.