Leading universities and companies from across Europe submitted 152 projects in two calls for proposals, of which only a handful were selected for implementation, including a project coordinated by Masaryk University (ranked in the top 6 of 103 proposals submitted in the first call) and one by Brno University of Technology (ranked in the top 4 of 49 proposals submitted in the second call).
Masaryk University will coordinate a project called Cybersecurity Certification and Assessment Tools (CCAT), which will be implemented by a consortium of nine institutions, universities and companies from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy and Germany with a budget of more than €4.2 million.
The project builds on four open source cybersecurity tools developed by universities and aims to make the tools usable in applied, non-academic settings. The CCAT tools will enable the assessment of TLS systems, the evaluation of cryptographic devices and software libraries, including black-box setups, the testing of embedded security architectures (chips), and the analysis of cybersecurity certification landscapes.
Petr Švenda, one of the leading researchers at Masaryk University, says: “CCAT shifts our focus from simply detecting vulnerabilities in existing products to proactively providing robust and easy-to-use tools that help prevent vulnerabilities in future designs. Our open source approach increases the transparency of security testing, giving product users greater insight into the security of the technologies they rely on.”
Brno University of Technology will coordinate the QARC (Quantum-Resistant Cryptography in Practice) project, which involves 18 partners from 12 European countries and has a budget of more than €6 million.
QARC´s main objective is to accelerate the transition to quantum-safe cryptography in close collaboration between academia, industry and the public sector. The project focuses on providing and testing technical solutions resistant to quantum attacks, as well as international networking, cooperation between national cybersecurity authorities, road mapping and harmonisation across EU countries.
Jan Hajný, QARC Principal Investigator from Brno University of Technology, says: “QARC represents the continuation of our long-term activities in the field of post-quantum cryptography, which began many years ago. Thanks to past projects such as CHESS and NESPOQ (Network Cybersecurity in Post-Quantum Era), we have gained valuable experience in the design and practical deployment of quantum-safe technologies, such as those currently available in our Quantum Security Laboratory. QARC would not be possible without excellent partners from Czechia, Estonia and 10 other European countries who have the best qualifications to make this project a success.”
The two new projects represent a significant improvement in the position of South Moravian universities in the European cybersecurity research ecosystem. Although the region is home to major globally successful cybersecurity companies, academic institutions from South Moravia have never been at the forefront of EU-funded research and innovation projects. The CCAT and QARC projects have undoubtedly put Masaryk University and Brno University of Technology on the map of key players in the field of cybersecurity in Europe.