Welcome at the Chair of Privacy and Security

The scientific staff is standing in front of a bridge

We work on all aspects of technical data protection and network and IT security. We are primarily interested in privacy, i.e. the protection of individuals against the misuse of their data.

Over the past decades, digital technologies have developed rapidly. The advent of digital transformation and the interconnectivity of all areas of life opens up a wealth of new possibilities. Autonomous networked vehicles, cloud computing, industry 4.0, virtual reality with haptic feedback, online banking or social networks are just a few keywords that are changing the way and quality of life. However, this development also brings with it a number of challenges that people often do not immediately grasp, but which may well conflict with their interests. Our research group is engaged in the development and analysis of security concepts that protect from all types of potential attackers on such systems. We are also interested in the development of technologies that promote data protection in order to protect privacy in the digital world. Finally, we develop protocols and algorithms to secure the underlying infrastructures for communication and computation.

We are part of the KASTEL Security Research Labs, as well as the excellence cluster CeTI, the Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop.

News

Paper presented at socialBRIDGES

On September 21st, 2023, Julian Todt will present his work "On Risks and Anonymizations of Behavioral Biometrics" (with Simon Hanisch, Melanie Volkamer, Thorsten Strufe) at the socialBRIDGES e-conference of TU Dresden.

The presentation will start at 11:30 CEST and will be streamed publicly free of charge.

Livestream
"Forum Privatheit"-paper published

The paper "Zu Risiken und Anonymisierungen von Verhaltensbiometrie" (Simon Hanisch, Julian Todt, Melanie Volkamer, Thorsten Strufe) has been published in Daten-Fairness in einer globalisierten Welt. It is the written report of their presentation at Forum Privatheit 2022 (German).

The article provides an overview of the personal information that can be obtained from different sensor data and the resulting privacy risks. This is especially important in the face of growing augmented reality and virtual reality platforms, as they are equipped with a variety of sensors. Finally, the researchers provide possible solutions based on better information for users, more fine-grained rights management and various anonymization methods.

Congratulations!

Link to the article (German)
Paper accepted at S&P 2024

The paper "PolySphinx: Extending the Sphinx Mix Format With Better Multicast Support" (Daniel Schadt, Christoph Coijanovic, Christiane Weis, Thorsten Strufe) has been accepted at IEEE S&P 2024!

In this paper, the scientists construct a new message format for anonymizing mix networks, which makes group communication more efficient. This helps in providing new applications on top of anonymous communication networks.

Congratulations!

Paper accepted at ESORICS 2023

The paper "Panini — Anonymous Anycast and an Instantiation" (Christoph Coijanovic, Christiane Kuhn, Thorsten Strufe) has been accepted at ESORICS 2023!

In this paper, the scientists formalize the idea of an "anonymous anycast", in which even a sender does not know to whom they are sending a message. This could be of use to activists who want to use a "dead man's switch". Additionally, they implement a protocol that satisfies the formal requirements.

Congratulations!

Paper preprint
Paper accepted at PETS 2024

The paper "A False Sense of Privacy: Towards a Reliable Evaluation Methodology for the Anonymization of Biometric Data" (Simon Hanisch, Julian Todt, Jose Patino, Nicholas Evans, Thorsten Strufe) has been accepted for publishing at PETS 2024!

In this paper, the scientists analyse with which methods anonymisation techniques are evaluated, and which shortcomings current methods have. They propose a new, stronger method, to provide a more reliable evaluation.

Congratulations!

Paper preprint

 

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