NIST Finalizes ‘Lightweight Cryptography’ Standard to Protect Small Devices

On August 13, 2025, the National Institute of Standards and Technology issued an update regarding NIST Finalizes ‘Lightweight Cryptography’ Standard to Protect Small Devices. The standard provides a defense against cyberattacks for resource-constrained devices such as RFID tags, medical implants, and IoT sensors, which often possess limited computational resources. Four Ascon variants are included in the standard, focusing on authenticated encryption with associated data and hashing.