Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy

New study on user perception of data collection purposes highlights a lack of clarity in privacy notices

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.

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.

The United Nations acknowledges the existence of approximately 13.400 nuclear weapons. To ensure that these weapons are not misused, continuous monitoring is required. However, current methods of surveillance such as CCTV and physical inspections are not meeting security and privacy requirements. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy in collaboration with colleagues from Princeton University, Harvard University, PHYSEC GmbH, Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University Berlin and the University of Connecticut developed a reliable method to monitor nuclear sites remotely.

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.