ASCON Family for Constrained Environments
Meltem Sönmez Turan · 2024
In 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the selection of the Ascon family of algorithms designed by Dobraunig, Eichlseder, Mendel, and Schläffer to provide efficient cryptography solutions for resource-constrained devices. This decision emerged from a rigorous, multi-round lightweight cryptography standardization process. This standard introduces a new Ascon-based family of symmetric-key cryptographic primitives designed to deliver Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD), hash, and Extendable Output Function (XOF) capabilities, namely Ascon-AEAD128, Ascon-Hash256, Ascon-XOF128, and Ascon-CXOF128. The Ascon family is characterized by lightweight permutation-based primitives and provides robust security, efficiency, and flexibility, making it ideal for resource-constrained environments, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, embedded systems, and low-power sensors. The family is developed to offer a viable alternative when the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) may not perform optimally. This draft standard outlines the technical specifications of Ascon-AEAD128, Ascon-Hash256, Ascon-XOF128, and Ascon-CXOF128, and provides their security properties.