NSA Offers Block Ciphers to Help Secure RFID Transmissions

The National Security Agency (NSA) is offering two families of encryption algorithms, known as block ciphers, intended to provide a level of security for such processes as authentication or anti-counterfeiting via RFID technology. The block ciphers, dubbed SIMON and SPECK, are intended to be a lightweight, low-power-using alternative to existing encryption systems available for RFID tag reads.