Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters

The limited resources available for Smart Meter (SM) devices on large-scale Smart Grid (SG) networks impose several constraints on SMs authentication. Currently, available authentication schemes are not suitable for this type of network. In particular, factors such as power and memory consumption im...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lewis Nkenyereye, Abhijeet Thakare, Priyanka Khataniar, Raju Imandi, Pavan Kumar B N
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Mathematics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/4/580
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850231791887056896
author Lewis Nkenyereye
Abhijeet Thakare
Priyanka Khataniar
Raju Imandi
Pavan Kumar B N
author_facet Lewis Nkenyereye
Abhijeet Thakare
Priyanka Khataniar
Raju Imandi
Pavan Kumar B N
author_sort Lewis Nkenyereye
collection DOAJ
description The limited resources available for Smart Meter (SM) devices on large-scale Smart Grid (SG) networks impose several constraints on SMs authentication. Currently, available authentication schemes are not suitable for this type of network. In particular, factors such as power and memory consumption impact the protocol efficiency and the device lifetime. Furthermore, high computational complexity leads to scalability issues in real-world scenarios, wherein large SGs need to handle a huge number of requests coming at a high rate. In this paper, we propose a lightweight authentication protocol for Smart Grids (LAP-SG), a novel scheme accounting for real resource-constrained SM providing reduced computation power, memory requirements, communication overhead, and electricity consumption. We prove the security of LAP-SG using both informal security analysis and a formal security model. We further prove the security of LAP-SG by testing it using AVISPA and ProVerif tools, showing its security against all known attacks. To assess LAP-SG performance in a real-world scenario, we measure its performance using the configuration of the Atmel family of SM devices. When compared to the state of the art, LAP-SG attains three times Smaller computation cost, reduced communication costs (up to 400 bits), and nearly four times lower storage cost.
format Article
id doaj-art-769e9dc67f7a47f3b51c7ecbd9e30f4e
institution OA Journals
issn 2227-7390
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Mathematics
spelling doaj-art-769e9dc67f7a47f3b51c7ecbd9e30f4e2025-08-20T02:03:25ZengMDPI AGMathematics2227-73902025-02-0113458010.3390/math13040580Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart MetersLewis Nkenyereye0Abhijeet Thakare1Priyanka Khataniar2Raju Imandi3Pavan Kumar B N4Department of Computer and Information Security, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Computer Science, Bodoland University, Kokrajhar 783370, Assam, IndiaComputer Science and Engineering Group, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Sri City 517646, Andhra Pradesh, IndiaComputer Science and Engineering Group, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Sri City 517646, Andhra Pradesh, IndiaThe limited resources available for Smart Meter (SM) devices on large-scale Smart Grid (SG) networks impose several constraints on SMs authentication. Currently, available authentication schemes are not suitable for this type of network. In particular, factors such as power and memory consumption impact the protocol efficiency and the device lifetime. Furthermore, high computational complexity leads to scalability issues in real-world scenarios, wherein large SGs need to handle a huge number of requests coming at a high rate. In this paper, we propose a lightweight authentication protocol for Smart Grids (LAP-SG), a novel scheme accounting for real resource-constrained SM providing reduced computation power, memory requirements, communication overhead, and electricity consumption. We prove the security of LAP-SG using both informal security analysis and a formal security model. We further prove the security of LAP-SG by testing it using AVISPA and ProVerif tools, showing its security against all known attacks. To assess LAP-SG performance in a real-world scenario, we measure its performance using the configuration of the Atmel family of SM devices. When compared to the state of the art, LAP-SG attains three times Smaller computation cost, reduced communication costs (up to 400 bits), and nearly four times lower storage cost.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/4/580Smart Grid communicationsenergy network security and privacynetwork architecture and protocols
spellingShingle Lewis Nkenyereye
Abhijeet Thakare
Priyanka Khataniar
Raju Imandi
Pavan Kumar B N
Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters
Mathematics
Smart Grid communications
energy network security and privacy
network architecture and protocols
title Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters
title_full Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters
title_fullStr Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters
title_full_unstemmed Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters
title_short Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids: An Energy-Efficient Authentication Scheme for Resource-Limited Smart Meters
title_sort lightweight authentication protocol for smart grids an energy efficient authentication scheme for resource limited smart meters
topic Smart Grid communications
energy network security and privacy
network architecture and protocols
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/4/580
work_keys_str_mv AT lewisnkenyereye lightweightauthenticationprotocolforsmartgridsanenergyefficientauthenticationschemeforresourcelimitedsmartmeters
AT abhijeetthakare lightweightauthenticationprotocolforsmartgridsanenergyefficientauthenticationschemeforresourcelimitedsmartmeters
AT priyankakhataniar lightweightauthenticationprotocolforsmartgridsanenergyefficientauthenticationschemeforresourcelimitedsmartmeters
AT rajuimandi lightweightauthenticationprotocolforsmartgridsanenergyefficientauthenticationschemeforresourcelimitedsmartmeters
AT pavankumarbn lightweightauthenticationprotocolforsmartgridsanenergyefficientauthenticationschemeforresourcelimitedsmartmeters