Portrait

The chair for Embedded Security (EMSEC) is headed by Prof. Christof Paar and is one of the core groups which form the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security at the Ruhr University Bochum. The group's main focus is on embedded security. The EMSEC group is internationally recognized in certain aspects of embedded security such as cryptographic hardware, fast and secure implementations, or cryptanalytical computers. An overview of the research areas can be found here. In 1999 Prof. Christof Paar co-founded the Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) Workshop series, which has evolved into the leading forum for research results in applied cryptography. The EMSEC group is heavily involved in the popular BS and MS programs in IT security. Typically, the group consist of about 8 research assistants working on their Ph.D., and often also of visiting researchers and post-doc(s).
 

Historical Remarks about the Chair

From 1995-2001 Prof. Christof Paar was on the faculty of the ECE Department of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Massachusetts, USA (first as assistant professor, later as tenured associate professor). At WPI, he founded the Cryptography and Information Security (CRIS) Labs. After almost seven years, Prof. Christof Paar assumed the chair for Communication Security at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Three Ph.D. students of the CRIS Labs (Jorge Guajardo, Andre Weimerskirch, and Thomas Wollinger) also moved from WPI to Bochum. Currently, Prof. Paar is affiliated full professor in WPI's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. In the year 2008 the chair for Communication Security has been renamed as chair for Embedded Security.