Hadiwiyatno, Septriandi Wirayoga, Miftakhul Huda, Galih Putra Riatma
Modern agriculture increasingly relies on wireless sensor networks to monitor soil quality parameters such as humidity, temperature, and nutrient levels in greenhouses. The NRF24L01 module is a widely used low-power wireless transceiver that supports point-to-point communication with a range of up to 200 m. However, by default this module does not provide encryption, making data transmissions vulnerable to eavesdropping and manipulation. To address these security concerns, this research implements the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-128) algorithm in combination with custom header packets on an NRF24L01-based network using Arduino. The proposed system is designed to improve data confidentiality and integrity while maintaining reliable communication performance. Testing was conducted through three scenarios: data transmission security, obstacle variation, and attack simulation. The results show that the implementation of AES+Header significantly enhances security by preventing all eavesdropping and manipulation attempts, with data integrity guaranteed (CRC-ok = Yes) and average packet loss maintained below 1%. Although obstacle variations increased packet loss up to 42.7% at 95 cm, the integrity of successfully received data remained intact. Furthermore, attack simulations confirmed that unencrypted communication is highly vulnerable, whereas AES+Header consistently prevented intrusions. Overall, the system demonstrates secure, reliable, and efficient transmission of greenhouse soil quality data, supporting the development of resilient IoT-based smart farming. © 2025 IEEE.
State Polytechnic of Malang, Electrical Engineering Departement, Malang, Indonesia