Experts in Analyzing the Security of Symmetric Cryptographic Primitives

The IAIK Krypto research group focuses on the security analysis of symmetric cryptographic primitives. For this purpose, we apply and adapt existing mathematical frameworks to practical designs and design methods. We conduct basic and applied research and offer consulting services.

We are part of the Secure Entities for Smart Environments (SEnSE) Group at the IAIK.

Current Research Topics

• Analysis of Modern Cryptographic Hash Functions II
  The strength of the security of electronic applications and systems relies on the security of the smallest building blocks. Cryptographic hash functions are one example of a ubiquitously deployed building block, with applications ranging from digital signatures, authentication protocols, random number generation and many more. Since the discovery of weaknesses in the most frequently used hash functions in 2005, an extensive amount of work has been invested in hash functions. With the SHA-3 competition of NIST on track, there is a growing need for fundamental and applied research to support the choice of the new world wide hash standard. For more information visit our project website here.


• AES Security and Implementations
  The challenge in cryptographic research is to construct mathematical transformations that have desirable security properties on the one hand, but on the other hand they should also be efficiently realizable in hardware and/or software. The most interesting event of the end of the 1990's in this respect was doubtlessly the selection process for a new encryption standard AES by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
  The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) competition received submissions, evaluations and other contributions from all over the world. Even after the selection of the AES, the research continues. The development of new cryptanalysis techniques necessitates continuous re-evaluation of the security. The introduction of new applications puts new demands on implementations and requires rethinking the possibilities for optimization of performance, energy consumption, cost, … We study AES extensively both from the security and the implementation viewpoint. A state-of-the-art overview on the research on AES is available at our AES Lounge.