NIST Picks IoT Standard for Small Electronics Cybersecurity

After a search that took several years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has chosen Ascon to be the standard to protect data generated by exploding ranks of lightweight electronics that make up the Internet of Things (IoT).

NIST will publish the full standard later in 2023, the organization says.

The Ascon group of algorithms is able to provide protection under the electronic constraints of small technology like medical devices, stress detectors on roads and bridges, and keyless entry fobs for cars, according to NIST.

"The world is moving toward using small devices for lots of tasks ranging from sensing to identification to machine control, and because these small devices have limited resources, they need security that has a compact implementation," NIST computer scientist Kerry McKay said in the announcement of the selection. "These algorithms should cover most devices that have these sorts of resource constraints."