Cyber Security in the Age of Large-Scale Adversaries

Participating Institutions

CASA's main location is at Ruhr University Bochum.

Ruhr University Bochum
Located in the dynamic metropolitan region of the Ruhr area at the heart of Europe, the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), founded in 1962, is home to around 40,000 students across its 21 faculties. The university is among the top ten largest universities in Germany and is a leading research institution in the country. Throughout its history, it has been a place where talents can pursue their academic path and thrive regardless of their social or geographical background. It draws its scientific excellence from this diversity and close interdisciplinary collaboration.

In addition to our excellence cluster CASA, it is also home to the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security (HGI), which is one of the largest and oldest institutions for fundamental research in the field of computer security in Europe.

PIs, postdocs and PhDs from the following additional institutions are also involved in our Cluster of Excellence CASA:

Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy

The Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy was founded in May 2019 in Bochum and serves as a center of excellence for basic research and for training the next generation of scientific leaders in the field of IT security and privacy. The institute's mission is to study and develop the technical foundations and interdisciplinary aspects of IT security and privacy.

Technische Universität Berlin

The chair of Machine Learning and IT Security at TU Berlin explores the interface between security and artificial intelligence. On the one hand, it develops intelligent systems for the detection of attacks, malware and vulnerabilities. On the other, it investigates the security and privacy of learning-based systems. The chair is part of the new AI competence center BIFOLD (Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data), which is permanently funded by the federal government and the BMBF.

Technische Universität Braunschweig

Methods for detecting attacks, malicious code and vulnerabilities are developed at the Institute for System Security. Research on IT system security combines IT security concepts with artificial intelligence techniques to create self-learning, intelligent security systems. The aim is to automatically detect security problems and protect computers from attacks.

University of Duisburg-Essen

In the research area of Secure Software Systems, Lucas Davi's group at the University of Duisburg-Essen is conducting research on practical problems of system and software security since 2016. In particular, long-term attacks (software-exploits) are in the focus, against which security technologies are being developed. Other research projects of the working group include the topics of operating system security, security of smart contracts, trusted computing, and hardware-based software security.

Eindhoven University of Technology

The Coding Theory and Cryptology research group is focused on protecting communications: coding theory protects against transmission errors and cryptology protects against attackers who want to read or modify content. Within cryptology, the group works on all topics of post-quantum cryptography, cryptography based on curves, and a variety of applications and attacks.

Leibniz University Hannover

In the Human-Centered Security research group, researchers study intersections of computer security and privacy with human factors. Special interest is devoted to the study of end users, administrators, developers, and designers of computer systems and their interactions with computer security and privacy mechanisms. Research includes large-scale analyses of the internet and software repositories to understand the challenges people face when interacting with computer security and privacy mechanisms.

Technical University of Munich

At the Institute of Theoretical Information Technology, scientists are working on the research topics of classical information theory, quantum information theory and signal processing. In particular, they work on information theoretic security for classical and quantum channels, embedded security for 6G, information theoretic security based on quantum PUFs, connection of quantum communication and 6G, entanglement transmission over compound and arbitrarily varying channels, resources for quantum communication, information theoretic security, interference calculus and resource allocation, interference modeling for wireless communication systems, foundations of signal processing, cooperation in wireless networks and experimental demonstration and verification in connection with computing theory.

Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics

The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics conducts holistic logistics research and encompasses internal and external logistics. Researchers and employees have made it their mission to develop customer-specific solutions, especially in the areas of materials handling, business process modelling, transportation systems and resource logistics. In addition, artificial intelligence, smart finance and the Internet of Things represent important research focuses of the Institute.