Research and Development
Our activities in the field of information security started in 1992 when Cybernetica's predecessor institution became the primary contractor for the national Information Security program. Cybernetica has been rapidly developing and currently involves around 60 researchers and system engineers.
Throughout its existence, Cybernetica’s main research field has been cryptology and information security. The main research goals are related to various theoretical and practical aspects of Cryptography, including Public Key Infrastructure, Time-Stamping, Secure Multiparty Computation, as well as other aspects of database security and copyright problems.
The international acclaim of the researchers currently working at the Information Security Institute is demonstrated by several indicators – the number of publications in highly rated venues, participation in the program and organizing committees of international conferences and Summer schools, as well as by Cybernetica's regular participation in international research and development projects funded by the Framework Programs of European Union. Cybernetica's Information Security Institute also participates in the Estonian eXcellence in Computer Science (EXCS) centre financed by the EU Regional Development Fund.
In our approach, the security proof of a protocol is a sequence of transformations from the initial protocol to an obviously secure protocol; we require that each of the transformations is rather simple and allows a simple proof that it does not change the observable behaviour of the system. We investigate the integration of a transformation-sequence-finding tool with a transformation-verifying tool as well as interactive options for protocol researchers.
Theoretical and practical aspects of heterogeneous information systems security
Modern information systems consist of components of different types and performance capabilities and this considerbly complicates the security design and analysis. In addition to developing new cryptographic protocols and primitives for heterogeneous systems, we plan to strengthen the links between security theory and practice by adopting traditional risk analysis methods for measuring security in a quantitative way.
Attack tree analysis systems & applications
The attack tree model identifies a particular threat and lists the subattacks necessary to materialize it. In order to increase the expected outcome, the attacker uses knowledge concerning success/failure of some elementary attacks to decide which attacks to skip or try next.
Privacy-preserving data mining
The primary task of data mining is to develop models about aggregated data, for example about the habits of internet users, without access to precise information in individual data records. We study the cryptographic approach to privacy-preserving data mining and its connections with the well-known randomization approach (Randomized Response Technique). Based on fundamental research results, we have developed the highly successful Sharemind secure computation platform .
Managing complexity in large software systems
Domain-specific languages (DSL) are proven to be useful in raising the level of abstraction when developing complex software systems. Our project Simplicitas develops a reasonably comprehensive toolset for creating DSLs in an enterprise context.
i-voting security
i-voting is an example of a privacy-sensitive application area. On one hand, it is important to find out the result of some functionality; on the other hand, the privacy of the participants has to be protected. Our goal is to make privacy-preserving computing, or cryptocomputing, efficient in i-voting as well as other real-life applications which include multi-party protocols.
FIRE – the Facilitate Industry and Research in Europe project will provide a strategic approach, organizational support and network capability for researchers, technology developers, consultants, system integrators and governments to improve their European co-operation by addressing challenges in the current fragmented landscape. The project will facilitate information security companies to improve take-up of European Trustworthy ICT research, and also enable researchers to connect and exploit their technology solutions with the information security technology companies, systems integrators and end users. (FP7)
SEVILLA – The general target of the SEVILLA (SEcure VIrtuaL machines and LAnguages) project is to extend Cybernetica’s Sharemind system to support new and innovative secure computation technologies. Sharemind’s SecreC language will be extended with support for harnessing the power of several secure computation tools in a single application. One of our goals is to investigate the possibility of adding support for fully homomorphic encryption to the Sharemind system.
Simplicitas – Simpl is a tool for quickly and efficiently implementing domain-specific languages. Its main target is enterprise information systems.
VirtualLife – project aimed at developing a virtual world platform mainly focusing on security, democracy and collaborative aspects. Combining a virtual legal system with a strong security infrastructure and a peer-to-peer architecture, VirtualLife provides a digital 3d environment suitable for education, training, e-commerce, business and entertainment. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 216064
Baltictime – development of the legal and accountable digital time stamping system (Latvia-Lithuania-Estonia-Italy-UK-Germany)
AEOLUS – development of the algorithmic principles to enable transparent and efficient access to the resources of an internet-based global computer (EU FP6)
UaESMC – the Usable and Efficient Secure Multi-party Computation project will research ways for making secure computation more practical in the real world. We will look for ways of improving the efficiency of society and economy through information sharing that leads to better business decisions and a more trusting society.
Additional information: Estonian Research Portal
PARTNERS
Software Technology and Applications Competence Centre (STACC)
Competence Centre in Electronics-, Info- and Communication Technologies
Institute of Computer Science of University of Tartu
Institute of Cybernetics of Tallinn University of Technology
Centre of Excellence in Computer Science (EXCS)
United States Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA)
Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Additional information:
Peeter Laud
peeter.laud[ät]cyber.ee
Phone: +372 731 1819
Research Director
Throughout its existence, Cybernetica’s main research field has been cryptology and information security. The main research goals are related to various theoretical and practical aspects of Cryptography, including Public Key Infrastructure, Time-Stamping, Secure Multiparty Computation, as well as other aspects of database security and copyright problems.
The international acclaim of the researchers currently working at the Information Security Institute is demonstrated by several indicators – the number of publications in highly rated venues, participation in the program and organizing committees of international conferences and Summer schools, as well as by Cybernetica's regular participation in international research and development projects funded by the Framework Programs of European Union. Cybernetica's Information Security Institute also participates in the Estonian eXcellence in Computer Science (EXCS) centre financed by the EU Regional Development Fund.
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH TOPICS
Analysis of cryptographic protocolsIn our approach, the security proof of a protocol is a sequence of transformations from the initial protocol to an obviously secure protocol; we require that each of the transformations is rather simple and allows a simple proof that it does not change the observable behaviour of the system. We investigate the integration of a transformation-sequence-finding tool with a transformation-verifying tool as well as interactive options for protocol researchers.
Theoretical and practical aspects of heterogeneous information systems security
Modern information systems consist of components of different types and performance capabilities and this considerbly complicates the security design and analysis. In addition to developing new cryptographic protocols and primitives for heterogeneous systems, we plan to strengthen the links between security theory and practice by adopting traditional risk analysis methods for measuring security in a quantitative way.
Attack tree analysis systems & applications
The attack tree model identifies a particular threat and lists the subattacks necessary to materialize it. In order to increase the expected outcome, the attacker uses knowledge concerning success/failure of some elementary attacks to decide which attacks to skip or try next.
Privacy-preserving data mining
The primary task of data mining is to develop models about aggregated data, for example about the habits of internet users, without access to precise information in individual data records. We study the cryptographic approach to privacy-preserving data mining and its connections with the well-known randomization approach (Randomized Response Technique). Based on fundamental research results, we have developed the highly successful Sharemind secure computation platform .
Managing complexity in large software systems
Domain-specific languages (DSL) are proven to be useful in raising the level of abstraction when developing complex software systems. Our project Simplicitas develops a reasonably comprehensive toolset for creating DSLs in an enterprise context.
i-voting security
i-voting is an example of a privacy-sensitive application area. On one hand, it is important to find out the result of some functionality; on the other hand, the privacy of the participants has to be protected. Our goal is to make privacy-preserving computing, or cryptocomputing, efficient in i-voting as well as other real-life applications which include multi-party protocols.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
TREsPASS – the Technology-supported Risk Estimation by Predictive Assessment of Socio-technical Security project aimed to develop a smart ‘attack navigator’, which will trace potential weak points within an organization or a given infrastructure. An information infrastructure may be protected by the best technical means possible, but in the end it is often human behavior that leads to unwanted intrusion or to the theft of information. By themselves, technical solutions will not solve these problems. That’s why universities and companies all over Europe are getting involved in the TREsPASS project, which makes specific allowance for the human dimension. (FP7)FIRE – the Facilitate Industry and Research in Europe project will provide a strategic approach, organizational support and network capability for researchers, technology developers, consultants, system integrators and governments to improve their European co-operation by addressing challenges in the current fragmented landscape. The project will facilitate information security companies to improve take-up of European Trustworthy ICT research, and also enable researchers to connect and exploit their technology solutions with the information security technology companies, systems integrators and end users. (FP7)
SEVILLA – The general target of the SEVILLA (SEcure VIrtuaL machines and LAnguages) project is to extend Cybernetica’s Sharemind system to support new and innovative secure computation technologies. Sharemind’s SecreC language will be extended with support for harnessing the power of several secure computation tools in a single application. One of our goals is to investigate the possibility of adding support for fully homomorphic encryption to the Sharemind system.
Simplicitas – Simpl is a tool for quickly and efficiently implementing domain-specific languages. Its main target is enterprise information systems.
VirtualLife – project aimed at developing a virtual world platform mainly focusing on security, democracy and collaborative aspects. Combining a virtual legal system with a strong security infrastructure and a peer-to-peer architecture, VirtualLife provides a digital 3d environment suitable for education, training, e-commerce, business and entertainment. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 216064
Baltictime – development of the legal and accountable digital time stamping system (Latvia-Lithuania-Estonia-Italy-UK-Germany)
AEOLUS – development of the algorithmic principles to enable transparent and efficient access to the resources of an internet-based global computer (EU FP6)
UaESMC – the Usable and Efficient Secure Multi-party Computation project will research ways for making secure computation more practical in the real world. We will look for ways of improving the efficiency of society and economy through information sharing that leads to better business decisions and a more trusting society.
Additional information: Estonian Research Portal
PARTNERS
Software Technology and Applications Competence Centre (STACC)Competence Centre in Electronics-, Info- and Communication Technologies
Institute of Computer Science of University of Tartu
Institute of Cybernetics of Tallinn University of Technology
Centre of Excellence in Computer Science (EXCS)
United States Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA)
Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Additional information:
Peeter Laud
peeter.laud[ät]cyber.ee
Phone: +372 731 1819
Research Director
