News

Accepted papers at Eurocrypt 2025

At this year's Annual International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Cryptographic Techniques, Eurocrypt for short - an important conference in the field of cryptography - two papers were accepted with the participation of ATHENE researchers.
The first paper presents new methods for improving authenticated encryption schemes. These methods protect both the confidentiality and the authenticity of data. The second paper introduces a new security model. This can process input from multiple sources simultaneously - an important capability that is lacking in the current Key Derivation Functions (KDFs). KDFs are currently considered the standard for secure Internet communications.

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ATHENE researchers analyse Apple's Emergency SOS

ATHENE researchers, in collaboration with the Hasso Plattner Institute, have conducted the first comprehensive security analysis of Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite service. Despite the multi-layered encryption architecture, the analysis revealed significant security vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to circumvent geographical restrictions and send unauthorised messages.

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ATHENE-Paper accepted at the NDSS Symposium

ATHENE researchers, led by Prof Matthias Hollick's team, have conducted a comprehensive security analysis of Apple's satellite protocol and uncovered several vulnerabilities. Their findings are summarised in their paper 'Starshields for iOS: Navigating the Security Cosmos in Satellite Communication'. In a few days, they will present it at the prestigious Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium 2025.

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New center for applied cyber security research in Heilbronn

On 1 January 2025, Fraunhofer, in cooperation with the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, will open a total of eight research and innovation centers on the Heilbronn education campus. Among them is the Fraunhofer SIT and thus also ATHENE: We are responsible for the new Fraunhofer Heilbronn Research and Innovation Center for Cyber­security as one of the eight new research and innovation centers and as a new research department within Fraunhofer SIT.

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