CRISES Research Group of Rovira Virgili University (URV) Since September 2023, she has been working on the Hermes research project Improves the Cyber security. It focuses on four areas: encryption resistant to quantum and side-channel attacks, and ensuring the anonymity of personal data in public environments.artificial intelligence Decentralized security certificate systems and their management in IoT environments.
The research is co-funded by the National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) through European fonts next generation The University of Tarragona itself has a total budget of1.8 million euros It is scheduled to end at the end of 2025.
Encryption is resistant to quantum attacks
While quantum computers have not yet become a commercial reality, cybersecurity experts see their emergence as a revolution to threaten By current encryption systems. Deciphering this encrypted information is a challenge for conventional processors, but it could explode and create bottles with enormous computing power. Quantum computer.
“Ways must be found Encryption that they still have difficulty when this happens; “In the meantime, it does not interfere with the use of strong cryptography,” explains Josep Domingo Ferrer, Professor of Computer Science and ICREA-Academia Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Mathematics at URV and leader of the project.
The ability of an AI model depends largely on the amount of data it has been trained on to perform a particular task. For this reason, it is usual to make it central Database With the aim of building robust and reliable models. “This centralization is not always possible, because very often, the data of interest is of a personal nature and may include confidential information,” notes Domingo Ferrer.
The solution is for each data owner to train an AI model locally and then combine it with the other owners' local models to get a global model calculated from all local datasets. The goal in this area is to ensure that there is no type of…secret information From the collection of these decentralized models.
Certification of cryptographic security
“Encryption methods are becoming more complex to understand, even for engineers,” Domingo Ferrer points out. As a result, the safety The perceived value of an encryption system depends not only on the strength of the encryption, but also on the reputation of the body certifying it.
To provide an objective assessment of the degree of security of the system, one of the planned lines of research must be worked on Verification systems Official: These intentionally attack encrypted information to discover it Weaknesses Determine the degree of security of the encryption used to encode it.
Security in the Internet of Things
the The Internet of things (IoT) is a classification that refers to objects that, although their main function has nothing to do with connecting to the Internet, have this function. These devices, when communicating with other devices, must be able to determine which ones should be trusted and which cannot be trusted.
Domingo-Ferrer embodies what's possible in connected cars Threats From one Cyber security Poor people in the IoT environment: “The remote-controlled car can become a weapon in our hands Terrorists; An Internet-connected car must be secure. Vulnerabilities in other devices such as security cameras, home appliances, or wearables, while perhaps less severe, also carry risks.
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