Lightweight IoT Encryption Using a Hierarchical DNA–Cellular Automata Cryptosystem with Random Mutations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26740/vubeta.v3i3.56272Keywords:
DNA cryptography IoT security Lightweight encryption Cellular automata Mutation-driven diffusionAbstract
Resource-constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices require lightweight cryptographic mechanisms that provide strong security with minimal computational and energy overhead. This study presents a hierarchical Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)–Cellular Automata (DNA–CA) cryptosystem enhanced with biologically inspired random mutations, designed for ultra-low-power IoT nodes. Plaintext data are encoded into DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) sequences, processed through multi-layer cellular automata with dynamic, state-dependent keys, and subjected to controlled pre- and post-encryption mutations to enhance diffusion, entropy, and resistance to differential and statistical attacks. The system was implemented and evaluated on six heterogeneous microcontrollers spanning 8-, 16-, and 32-bit architectures, including ATmega4809-P, dsPIC33CH128MP, MSP430FR6989, STM32L5, nRF52840, and ESP32-C3, representing sensors, industrial controllers, wireless nodes, and edge platforms. Experimental results demonstrate near-ideal Shannon entropy (7.97±0.02 bits/byte), avalanche ≈50.1%, NPCR ≈99.6%, UACI ≈33.0%, key sensitivity ≈50%, and negligible ciphertext correlation (-0.004 < r < 0.006). Memory and energy requirements are modest (4–6 KB ROM, <1.5 KB RAM, microjoule-level energy per encryp-tion). Ablation studies confirm that mutation layers critically enhance entropy, diffusion, and differential resistance. Overall, the hierarchical DNA–CA cryptosystem offers a scalable, energy-efficient, and highly secure lightweight encryption frame-work suitable for heterogeneous IoT deployments.
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