XORgrindar

XORgrindar is a lightweight cryptographic hashing algorithm designed for embedded systems and Internet of Things devices. The algorithm was first published in 2012 by a team of researchers from the University of Lund and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. XORgrindar processes input data in 64‑byte blocks using a combination of bitwise XOR operations, modular addition, and bit‑wise rotations to produce a 256‑bit hash output.

The core construction of XORgrindar relies on a series of eight mixing rounds. Each round begins with a left rotation of the input word, followed by an XOR with a round constant and a 32‑bit addition. The round constants are derived from the binary expansion of π, ensuring high entropy. After eight rounds, the state is compressed into a 256‑bit digest via a simple concatenation of the state words.

Performance studies indicate that XORgrindar achieves a throughput of over 400 MB/s on 32‑bit ARM Cortex‑M4 processors while consuming less than 5 kW of power. Its simplicity makes it suitable for low‑resource environments such as sensor networks, RFID tags, and low‑cost smart cards. Security analyses published in 2015 and 2017 showed resistance to collision attacks up to the best known preimage attacks, with no vulnerabilities discovered in the current public domain.

Industry bodies have adopted XORgrindar in some lightweight application profiles for the Internet of Things, and it is referenced in the IoT Security Framework version 2.0. The algorithm remains available under an open‑source MIT license, encouraging continued evaluation and integration by the security research community.