Researchers from the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security and the French partner institute Loria in Nancy meet twice a year for workshops aimed at fostering cross-border scientific exchange on cybersecurity and trustworthy artificial intelligence. For the winter workshop on Formal Methods, CISPA researchers welcomed their French colleagues from Loria to Saarbrücken on December 3. In IT, formal methods refer to techniques for verifying the security and reliable functioning of complex software and computer systems.
“CISPA and Loria have a long history of collaboration in the area of formal verification of cryptographic protocols, facilitated by the geographical proximity of the Great Region,” explained Steve Kremer, who co-organized the event on the French side. “This workshop is an exciting opportunity to present our latest results to each other, to strengthen existing collaborations and to forge new ones.” His colleague Robert Künnemann, research group leader at CISPA, added that the workshop topic touches on a central research area for both institutes, with many researchers already in regular contact on the subject.
Künnemann also emphasized the importance of the cross-border partnership: “The French-German friendship manifests also in scientific projects like the French-German Centre for Cybersecurity. I've worked for many years with my colleagues at Loria, even before this collaboration was institutionalised.” The successful formalization of this collaboration is reflected in what is now the 8th workshop within the FGCC framework.
Throughout the day, six presentations were held. The event began with a talk by French researcher Vincent Laporte on Preservation of Speculative Constant-Time by Compilation. This was followed by two presentations on fuzzing by Prof. Dr. Andreas Zeller (CISPA) and Dr. Lucca Hirschi (Loria). In the afternoon, CISPA researchers Dr. Robert Künnemann and Kevin Morio spoke on various aspects of protocol security. The program concluded with a talk by Dr. Charlie Jacomme (Loria) on The Squirrel Prover. The next workshop is scheduled for spring in Nancy.
About the French-German Center for Cybersecurity (FGCC)
The FGCC is an association of the largest and most renowned cybersecurity research centers in Europe. The CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security and the French research laboratory Loria (CNRS, Inria, Université de Lorraine) in Nancy have been pursuing joint paths in cybersecurity research since 2020 and are dedicated to strengthening transfer and innovation activities between France and Germany. Responsible for the FGCC are Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Backes and Professor Dr. Antoine Joux on the German side, and Professor Dr. Jean-Yves Marion and Professor Dr. Marine Minier on the French side.
