IT security experts score success at international competitions
In the field of cryptography and IT security, new security standards are tested and awarded prizes at international competitions. Scientists of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar have developed two algorithms that can hold their own at the highest international level. In the PHC competition, the team from Weimar reached the final round. At CAESAR, the development made it to the second round.
The rationale behind the competitions is the ever-growing capabilities of modern computer systems. Older procedures can no longer keep pace with the new and higher demands on algorithms. The procedure or procedures ultimately selected as the winner can then be used anywhere - on a personal computer, in social networks or in the cloud.
The Password Hashing Competition (PHC) sought new cryptographic methods for securing passwords. The Weimar development dubbed »Catena« was included in the winning portfolio for PHC, even though it did not take home the winner's trophy for itself. Catena was developed by Prof. Dr. Stefan Lucks, Christian Forler, and Jacob Wenzel at the Professorship for Media Security.
The Competition for Authenticated Encryption Security, Applicability, Robustness (CAESAR) aims to develop procedures that enable robust, authenticated encryption, thus offering significant advantages over existing procedures (e.g.: AES-GCM). In July, Pipelineable Online Encryption with Tag (POET) was selected as one of 29 candidates out of 57 that made it to the second round of the CAESAR competition. Finalists from among the second-round candidates will be selected following an exhaustive analysis which will take place over the course of the coming year with the purpose of choosing one or more winners by 2017. POET was developed jointly by Prof. Dr. Stefan Lucks, Christian Forler, Eik List, Farzaneh Abed and Jakob Wenzel in the Professorship for Media Security, together with Cisco Systems (Scott Fluhrer, John Foley and David McGrew).
Websites
Catena: https://www.uni-weimar.de/de/medien/professuren/mediensicherheit/research/catena/
POET: http://www.uni-weimar.de/de/medien/professuren/mediensicherheit/research/poet/
PHC: https://password-hashing.net/CAESAR, http://competitions.cr.yp.to/caesar.html
Professorship: https://www.uni-weimar.de/de/medien/professuren/mediensicherheit/home/