We focus on the security of digital systems, including computers, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and embedded systems, which increasingly integrate artificial intelligence. Our goal is to make both conventional and intelligent systems resilient to real-world attacks.
Our research addresses vulnerabilities in these technologies. They range from physical information leakages, which is unintentional exposure of sensitive information through observable physical signals, such as power consumption, to implementation flaws. We explore a broad spectrum of solutions, from cryptographic algorithms to secure hardware architectures, to enhance the reliability and trustworthiness of these digital systems.
By analyzing attack vectors and fault scenarios, we develop defense mechanisms that ensure secure operation, even under critical conditions. This includes investigating how emerging and traditional systems can withstand both current and future threats while maintaining core functionality. A particular focus here is on applying effective security measures across all system layers.
Our mission is to deliver practical, integrated solutions that can be deployed in both existing and next-generation systems. This way, we are contributing to the development of secure, trustworthy digital architectures capable of withstanding attacks and faults.
Led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elif Bilge Kavun, our group explores how established security techniques can be adapted to meet the demands of evolving technologies. Prof. Kavun also holds the Chair of Secure Digital Systems at the Faculty of Computer Science, TU Dresden, jointly appointed with the Barkhausen Institut.
Who we are
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elif Bilge KavunResearch Group Leader
George Attia, Martin Schmid, Elif Kavun,
A Multi-head CNN-based Side-channel Attack on the Energy-efficient DIZY Stream Cipher,
2026 Constructive Approaches for Security analysis and Design of Embedded Systems Conference,
2026
@inproceedings{
attiaCASCADE26,
title = "A Multi-head CNN-based Side-channel Attack on the Energy-efficient DIZY Stream Cipher",
author = "George Attia, Martin Schmid, Elif Kavun",
year = "2026",
booktitle = "2026 Constructive Approaches for Security analysis and Design of Embedded Systems Conference",
month = "March"
}
Ali Sakar, Elif Kavun,
TRACEFORMER: Trace-Efficient and Robust Transformer-Based Late-Fusion Side-Channel Analysis of Masked AES,
2026 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems,
2026
@inproceedings{
sakarISCAS26,
title = "TRACEFORMER: Trace-Efficient and Robust Transformer-Based Late-Fusion Side-Channel Analysis of Masked AES",
author = "Ali Sakar, Elif Kavun",
year = "2026",
booktitle = "2026 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems",
month = "May"
}
Deborah Abugah, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Tolga Arul, Stavros Stavrinides, Elif Kavun, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos,
Post-Quantum Secure Real-Time Temperature Monitoring for Smart IoT Irrigation,
IEEE 44th International Conference on Consumer Electronics,
2026
@inproceedings{
abugahICCE26,
title = "Post-Quantum Secure Real-Time Temperature Monitoring for Smart IoT Irrigation",
author = "Deborah Abugah, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Tolga Arul, Stavros Stavrinides, Elif Kavun, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos",
year = "2026",
booktitle = "IEEE 44th International Conference on Consumer Electronics",
month = "February"
}
Martin Schmid, Giuseppe Manzoni, Aydin Aysu, Elif Kavun,
The Fellowship of the Leak: Power Analysis of a Masked FrodoKEM Hardware Accelerator,
2025 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD),
2025
@inproceedings{
schmidICCAD25,
title = "The Fellowship of the Leak: Power Analysis of a Masked FrodoKEM Hardware Accelerator",
author = "Martin Schmid, Giuseppe Manzoni, Aydin Aysu, Elif Kavun",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "2025 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD)",
month = "October",
pages = "1-8",
doi = "10.1109/ICCAD66269.2025.11240695"
}
Ethan Cornett, Rahul Magesh, Sharath Pendyala, Elif Kavun, Aydin Aysu,
Deus Ex LLMs: AI vs Humans in Post-Quantum Cryptographic Hardware Code Generation,
2025 IFIP/IEEE 33rd International Conference On Very Large Scale Integration (VLSISoC),
2025
@inproceedings{
cornettVLSISoC25,
title = "Deus Ex LLMs: AI vs Humans in Post-Quantum Cryptographic Hardware Code Generation",
author = "Ethan Cornett, Rahul Magesh, Sharath Pendyala, Elif Kavun, Aydin Aysu",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "2025 IFIP/IEEE 33rd International Conference On Very Large Scale Integration (VLSISoC)",
month = "October"
}
Martin Schmid, Simon Böttger, Martin Ernst, Martin Hartmann, Sascha Hermann, Elif Kavun, Stefan Katzenbeisser,
Towards the FPGA Platform Integration of Carbon-Nanotubes in Physical Unclonable Functions,
CPS Summer School PHD Workshop (CPSWS'25),
2025
, Download PDF
@inproceedings{
schmidCPSWS25,
title = "Towards the FPGA Platform Integration of Carbon-Nanotubes in Physical Unclonable Functions",
author = "Martin Schmid, Simon Böttger, Martin Ernst, Martin Hartmann, Sascha Hermann, Elif Kavun, Stefan Katzenbeisser",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "CPS Summer School PHD Workshop (CPSWS'25)",
month = "September"
}
Anila Hoxha, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Talaya Farasat, Joachim Posegga, Elif Kavun,
FPGA-Accelerated Neural Networks for Real-Time Anomaly Detection using High-Level Synthesis,
CPS Summer School PHD Workshop (CPSWS'25),
2025
, Download PDF
@inproceedings{
hoxhaCPSWS25,
title = "FPGA-Accelerated Neural Networks for Real-Time Anomaly Detection using High-Level Synthesis",
author = "Anila Hoxha, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Talaya Farasat, Joachim Posegga, Elif Kavun",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "CPS Summer School PHD Workshop (CPSWS'25)",
month = "September"
}
Giuseppe Manzoni, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Elif Kavun,
An Optimized FrodoKEM Implementation on Reconfigurable Hardware,
6th International Workshop on Lightweight Cryptography for Security & Privacy (LightSec),
2025
@inproceedings{
manzoniLightSec25,
title = "An Optimized FrodoKEM Implementation on Reconfigurable Hardware",
author = "Giuseppe Manzoni, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Elif Kavun",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "6th International Workshop on Lightweight Cryptography for Security & Privacy (LightSec)",
month = "September",
pages = "97-113",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-032-15541-2_6"
}
Martin Schmid, Elif Kavun,
Differential Power Analysis on Low-Energy Keystream Generating Hardware: Full-State Recovery in DIZY Implementation,
IEEE 36th International Conference on Application-specific Systems, Architectures and Processors (ASAP),
2025
@inproceedings{
schmidASAP25,
title = "Differential Power Analysis on Low-Energy Keystream Generating Hardware: Full-State Recovery in DIZY Implementation",
author = "Martin Schmid, Elif Kavun",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "IEEE 36th International Conference on Application-specific Systems, Architectures and Processors (ASAP)",
month = "July",
pages = "147-154",
doi = "10.1109/ASAP65064.2025.00032"
}
Shekoufeh Neisarian, Elif Kavun,
MT-TMVP: Modular Tiled TMVP-based Polynomial Multiplication for Post-Quantum Cryptography on FPGAs,
25th International Conference on Embedded Computer Systems: Architectures, Modeling, and Simulation (SAMOS),
2025
, Download PDF
@inproceedings{
neisarianSAMOS25,
title = "MT-TMVP: Modular Tiled TMVP-based Polynomial Multiplication for Post-Quantum Cryptography on FPGAs",
author = "Shekoufeh Neisarian, Elif Kavun",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "25th International Conference on Embedded Computer Systems: Architectures, Modeling, and Simulation (SAMOS)",
month = "June"
}
Joseph Chang, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Nico Mexis, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos, Tolga Arul, Elif Kavun,
Ternary PUF-based Secure Mutual Authentication Using RNNs for Sequence Learning in Response Classification,
21st International Conference on Synthesis, Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Methods and Applications to Circuit Design (SMACD),
2025
@inproceedings{
changSMACD25,
title = "Ternary PUF-based Secure Mutual Authentication Using RNNs for Sequence Learning in Response Classification",
author = "Joseph Chang, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Nico Mexis, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos, Tolga Arul, Elif Kavun",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "21st International Conference on Synthesis, Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Methods and Applications to Circuit Design (SMACD)",
month = "July",
pages = "1-4",
doi = "10.1109/SMACD65553.2025.11091973"
}
Selma Brimah, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Elif Kavun, Stefan Katzenbeisser, Tolga Arul, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos,
An Evaluation of LM35 Temperature Sensors as Physical Unclonable Functions,
2025 IEEE Zooming Innovation in Consumer Technologies Conference (ZINC),
2025
, Download PDF
@inproceedings{
brimahZINC25,
title = "An Evaluation of LM35 Temperature Sensors as Physical Unclonable Functions",
author = "Selma Brimah, Shekoufeh Neisarian, Elif Kavun, Stefan Katzenbeisser, Tolga Arul, Nikolaos Anagnostopoulos",
year = "2025",
booktitle = "2025 IEEE Zooming Innovation in Consumer Technologies Conference (ZINC)",
month = "May",
pages = "86-91",
doi = "10.1109/ZINC65316.2025.11103559"
}
