TINYLOCK A Lightweight and Adaptable Encryption Algorithm for Enhancing IoT Security on ATtiny85 Microcontrollers
Vinod Babu Pusuluri, Mownish Bugatha · 2025
TINY-LOCK, a lightweight encryption algorithm tailored for resource-constrained microcontrollers like the ATtiny85, widely used in IoT applications. Leveraging a compact Feistel network with a custom 4-bit S-Box, It achieves secure encryption with minimal computational overhead. Our results show that it encrypts a 32-bit block in just 1,500 clock cycles, outperforming popular ciphers like TEA and Speck, which require up to 3,000 cycles. It uses only 800 bytes of flash and 64 bytes of RAM, making it ideal for low-power devices. Performance benchmarks across I2C, SPI, and UART protocols reveal a 35% reduction in latency and 25% decrease in power consumption compared to existing algorithms. It demonstrates strong resilience against differential attacks with probabilities below 2–30, ensuring robust security. This makes TINY-LOCK a powerful, efficient, and secure solution for next-generation IoT devices.