The collaboration with Loria's French partners under the umbrella of the joint virtual “French-German Center for Cybersecurity (FGCC)” is now entering its fifth year. Since 2020, regular workshops with researchers from both centers have been taking place alternately in Nancy and Saarbrücken. This time, it was all about cryptography. The event was kicked off with a talk by CISPA researcher Rocco Mora on “A new approach based on quadratic forms to attack the McEliece cryptosystem”. Afterwards, the participants further discussed the topics in working groups and explored interfaces in research. In the afternoon, guest speaker Prof. Dr. Jean-Sébastien Coron from the University of Luxembourg gave a talk on “Post-quantum algorithms and side-channel countermeasures”.
Loria researcher and workshop organizer Prof. Dr. Marine Minier explains the importance of this year's workshop topic “Cryptography is the foundation of secure communication in everyday life, be it in online commerce, payment methods, calls, video telephony or the encryption of data. Absent or inadequate cryptographic methods pose a serious threat due to the high security risk and impact on society's everyday life. Both CISPA and Loria have numerous excellent researchers working on these challenges, which is why the topic is a particularly good fit. In addition, we have invited renowned researchers from Paris and Luxembourg.” CISPA-Faculty Prof. Dr. Antoine Joux, who is in charge of the collaboration on the German side, adds: “This summer, from July 29 to 31, 2024, CISPA is also hosting a summer school dedicated to the important topic of cryptography. This will provide a great opportunity for young talents from all over the world to deal with current research questions.”
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.
