Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy

A sophisticated device uses radio waves to determine whether states are really complying with nuclear weapons treaties

Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy participate in innovative science communication

The German Research Foundation recognizes Bonnie J. Murphy and Giulio Malavolta with the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize
 

Attackers have the ability not only to manipulate software, but also to tamper with the hardware. A team from Bochum is devising methods to detect such tampering.

Cryptographic systems that even quantum computers cannot crack will soon be standard in the USA

Attacks on software not only create billions of dollars in damage, but also threaten the privacy of users. Cybercriminals infiltrate programs through security holes. Marcel Böhme and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy have undertaken the task of closing entry points to attackers – and their approach has even caught the attention of companies such as Google.

It’s a threatening scenario for online communications: the arrival of powerful quantum computers will make current encryption techniques vulnerable overnight. Peter Schwabe, Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy, is therefore developing methods of post-quantum cryptography with international partners. Four such processes are now being standardized by the National Institute for Standards and Technology in the USA – Peter Schwabe was involved in the design of three of them.

Becoming a Max Planck Director via “secondchance” education is probably something of an exception. But that is precisely what happened in the case of Christof Paar, one of the founders of the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum, where his work now includes tracking down hardware Trojans on computer chips.

In the future, in many cases it will be algorithms developed by us at Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in Bochum that will be used to protect your data. The American National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) announced in July which cryptographic methods it will standardize to protect communications from future quantum computer cyberattacks. As Group Leader at Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy, I was involved in the development of three of the selected procedures. Most online services use the methods standardized by NIST.