A Protocol-Agnostic Backscatter-Based Security Layer for Ultra-Low-Power SWIPT IoT Networks

Computer Science > Cryptography and Security [Submitted on 17 Apr 2026] A Protocol-Agnostic Backscatter-Based Security Layer for Ultra-Low-Power SWIPT IoT Networks Taki Eddine Djidjekh (INSA Toulouse, LAAS-MINC), Alexandru Takacs (LAAS-MINC, EPE UT), Gaël Loubet (INSA Toulouse, LAAS-MINC), Lamoussa Sanogo (LAAS-MINC, INSA Toulouse), Daniela Dragomirescu (INSA Toulouse, LAAS-MINC) This paper presents a lightweight, protocol-agnostic security enhancement for Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT) in Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Building on a backscatter-based identification mechanism, the proposed approach introduces a secure, energy-efficient layer that operates independently of communication protocols and with minimal hardware modification. A rectifier-driven backscattering scheme embedded in battery-free sensing nodes enables authentication without activating conventional RF transceivers, thereby reducing power consumption while ensuring secure device identification. To assess robustness, replay attacks are emulated on standard LoRaWAN Activation By Personalization (ABP) encryption, highlighting vulnerabilities and demonstrating the relevance of the proposed solution. The approach is experimentally validated in a real Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) using LoRaWAN-compatible, battery-free sensing nodes equipped with compact, low-profile antennas, confirming both practicality and scalability for space-constrained IoT deployments. Results show that the method achieves secure identification, reliable energy harvesting, and data transmission with negligible impact on node autonomy. The proposed approach offers a practical, energy-efficient, and scalable security framework for SWIPT-enabled IoT systems, strengthening device authentication without altering existing communication protocols or compromising power autonomy. Subjects: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR); Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI) Cite as: arXiv:2604.15831 [cs.CR]   (or arXiv:2604.15831v1 [cs.CR] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.15831 Focus to learn more Journal reference: IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 2026, pp.1-1 Submission history From: Taki Eddine DJIDJEKH [view email] [via CCSD proxy] [v1] Fri, 17 Apr 2026 08:34:56 UTC (976 KB) Access Paper: view license Current browse context: cs.CR < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-04 Change to browse by: cs cs.NI References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)