Initiative

Our mission at HECTOR is to develop secure systems from the ground up, starting with the hardware. Trusted computing at the hardware level is fundamental to all information security practices. Advanced cyber-threats increasingly target hardware layer vulnerabilities, which are difficult to address solely from higher abstraction layers in the computing stack due to their pervasive nature. Therefore, secure solutions require a secure hardware base to establish trust and ensure the security of applications.

To achieve this, our research focuses on all security issues related to hardware and its interface with higher-level micro-architectures, firmware, software, and protocols. We address implementation attacks, reverse engineering, secure identity generation, and the realization of next-generation cryptographic systems. Additionally, we extend established hardware security concepts beyond cryptography. Our long-term focus includes automation and design tools for enhanced security.

Positions available: I am always looking for talented PhD students. Please find the detailed description here.