Which protocol is best for encryption and is it supported? Does the usb stick I buy matter? Would appreciate anyones advice.
Zwave is definitely more secure. It is heavily used by the alarm company industry. It is ul listed for security, and zigbee is not.
This is only if the device is included securely of course.
Both Zigbee and Z-wave use 128 bit AES encryption, IIRC…. Thus, no real significant difference in the level of security, IMHO. All Zigbee traffic is encrypted, whereas Z-wave allows for no encryption, S0 encryption, or S2 encryption. This is based on the various generations of Z-wave that have been released over time.
Zigbee also offer 250Kbps throughput, while Z-wave tops out at 100Kbps, I believe. Zigbee also allows for up to 65,000 devices whereas Z-wave is limited to somewhere around 232 devices. Zigbee devices use the same frequency around the globe, while Z-wave devices have region specific frequencies.
All that said, I am curious as to why encryption is important to you? I completely understand the desire to encrypt traffic for access control devices like locks and garage door openers. But I am much less concerned about water leak sensors, for example. In my particular case, I use Zigbee for most everything and thus it is all encrypted anyway. 
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