Improved Layered Yield Network-Efficient Hierarchical Encryption Algorithm for Secure Communication in IoT and IoE

Advanced NEHA is a three-tier symmetric cipher developed to meet the high-security and performance demands of mission-critical IoT environments, including military applications. It generates dynamic session keys using device-specific identifiers, then performs lightweight character substitution and circular bit rotation across fixed 512-bit blocks. A CRC32 checksum is appended to detect accidental transmission errors. The algorithm’s efficiency is evaluated using a unified, multi-criteria framework that standardizes five key metrics: encryption/decryption throughput, latency, memory footprint, computational complexity, and security strength. These metrics are normalized on a 0–10 scale and visualized through radar charts. A polygonal area derived from the chart quantifies overall efficiency. Compared to DES, 3DES, AES, RSA, and the original NEHA, Advanced NEHA achieves sub-millisecond encryption (0.4 ms) and decryption (0.2 ms) with low memory usage (4 KB and 2 KB respectively). Its aggregate efficiency score of 131.4 ranks second only to RSA, demonstrating strong practical performance. A controlled decryption challenge involving 237 cybersecurity professionals yielded a success rate below 1%, indicating strong resistance to brute-force and known-plaintext attacks. While the algorithm is lightweight and highly efficient, further analysis is needed to assess its scalability, entropy strength at large scales, and resistance under side-channel attack scenarios. These aspects are recommended for future exploration. Overall, Advanced NEHA offers a secure, fast, and resource-efficient solution for encrypted communication in environments where both speed and robustness are paramount.