Securing Infrared Communication in Nuclear Power Plants: Advanced Encryption for Infrared Sensor Networks

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 24; no. 7; p. 2054
• Main Authors: Park, Tae-Jin, Kim, Ki-Il, Moon, Sangook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Algorithms; Communication; data encryption algorithm; Data security; Data transmission; infrared communication; Infrastructure; IoT sensors; Nuclear energy; Nuclear power plants; Radiation; S-box security; Safety and security measures; Sensors; South Korea; Germany; infrared communication; IoT sensors; S-box security; data encryption algorithm; nuclear power plants
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s24072054

This study enhances infrared communication security in nuclear power plants' secondary systems, addressing the risk of mechanical and cyber failures. A novel random address generator, employing an innovative S-box, was developed to secure IoT sensor data transmissions to gateway nodes, mitigating eavesdropping, interference, and replay attacks. We introduced a structured IR communication protocol, generating unique, encrypted addresses to prevent unauthorized access. Key-dependent S-boxes, based on a compound chaotic map system, significantly improved encryption, increasing data transmission randomness and uniqueness. Entropy analysis and reduced duplicated addresses confirmed the effectiveness of our method, with the Hash-CCM algorithm showing the highest entropy and fewest duplicates. Integrating advanced cryptographic techniques into IR systems significantly enhances nuclear power plants' security, contributing to the protection of critical infrastructure from cyber threats and ensuring operational integrity.