Substitution Layer Analysis of NIST Lightweight Cryptography Competition Finalists

From the start of the 21st century, resource-constrained devices like smart cards, RFID tags and SCADA systems have been utilized commonly in security-critical systems. This vast adoption raised many security concerns like privacy and integrity of the data for stakeholders. Secure cryptographic mechanisms are a vital tool to resolve these issues. The implementation of conventional symmetric and asymmetric ciphers is not feasible because of the limited resources. In March 2017, NIST requested the research community to submit lightweight cryptographic algorithms for future standardization. After submissions, NIST finalized ten algorithms after two rounds of scrutiny. The confusion layer in these ciphers is the essential component that resists maximum security attacks. This study aims to carry out a comparative analysis of the cryptographic properties of the confusion layer of these finalists. The outcome of this research work will assist stakeholders in selecting the right choice for preserving the privacy and integrity of their data in such systems.