Artificial intelligence is transforming cybersecurity at an unprecedented pace. While AI creates new opportunities to detect and prevent cyber threats, it also enables increasingly sophisticated attacks. What does this mean for cybersecurity professionals, researchers, and the next generation of experts?

In this video podcast, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rahamatullah Khondoker, Head of the CYSECDIGITAL research group at the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, discusses how AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. Drawing on his expertise in cybersecurity, information security, and digitalization, he explores the impact of AI on critical sectors such as Smart Cities, Smart Industry, Autonomous Mobility, and Smart Healthcare.

The conversation addresses emerging threats and opportunities, the future of cybersecurity careers, ethical challenges, and the skills future professionals will need to succeed in an AI-driven world.

Read more here.

Dr. Julian Berberich, a control engineer from the University of Stuttgart, is researching methods to make quantum algorithms more robust. This would make quantum computers more resilient to environmental noise. To advance his research, Berberich has received a grant of 1.16 million euros from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to establish a new Emmy Noether Junior Research Group.

Read more here.

In industry, many machines exist twice: once in reality and once as a digital copy—the so-called digital twin. For companies to use these digital twins safely, their data must be reliable and tamper-proof. A recent research project of Prof. Dr. Christoph Reich at Furtwangen University is tackling exactly this challenge. The project team is developing a digital machine passport that uses the Ethereum blockchain to protect key information such as technical data, maintenance history and, as a special feature, also detailed CO2 emission data over the entire life cycle. This makes data exchange between companies more trustworthy, transparent and sustainable. 

You can learn more about the project here.

Modern cars have long become targets for cyberattacks. Yaman Qendah is researching how mathematics can be used to make these systems more resilient.

Imagine you’re driving at 130 km/h on the highway. Suddenly, your car radio starts acting up. The volume goes up and down randomly, and instead of music, all you can hear is noise. Hackers have managed to gain access to your car and take control of the radio.

Yaman Qendah is researching scenarios like this at the Chair of Computer Engineering at the University of Passau. To do so, she isn’t sitting in a car, but in her office in front of two large monitors. On the left-hand screen, a Jeep is driving through a virtual environment that she can configure as she wishes. Motorway, city, country road—anything is possible.

Find out more about Yaman Qendah’s work here.

“Hi Grandma, it’s Florian. I’m in trouble and need money.” What sounds like an emergency call is actually a deepfake: Cybercriminals use AI to create realistic voice imitations of people the victim knows in order to gain their trust or steal money – automatically, personalized, and on a massive scale. How can people tell whether they are talking to a real person or an artificial voice? And how can we develop strategies to detect suspicious voices and explain suspected manipulation – in a way that users can actually understand?

The “AntiScam” project at the University of Siegen is using an AI model to investigate how fraud attempts involving AI-generated voices can be distinguished from those produced by humans. The interdisciplinary team is developing both technical detection systems and strategies for digital self-defense. A particular focus is on explainable AI and interactive learning formats to raise awareness of common scam strategies.

Find out more here.

Cyberattacks on industrial production facilities are becoming increasingly common and pose a significant threat to companies. The effort required for security assessments continues to grow. Since industrial components and production systems are constantly evolving, risks must be reassessed on a regular basis. However, the analyses and certifications remain time- and resource-intensive and rely heavily on the expertise and experience of specialists. Through the project “SUSI – Software-based Support of Security Risk Assessments in Industry,” Professor Dr. Henning Trsek and his team, together with industry partners Weidmüller, Comma Soft, and rt-solutions, are developing intelligent software to support security risk assessments. The project also incorporates AI-based methods to enhance and streamline the assessment process. The goal is to reduce the time required for security risk assessments by up to 20 percent and enable cost savings of up to 50 percent. At the same time, the project aims to increase automation, ease the workload of specialists, and improve the quality and consistency of assessment results.

Read more here

In our ever-more digital world, science faces one great challenge: to build trust in artificial intelligence, machine learning and cyber security. The Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security of the University Alliance Ruhr (i.e. Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and University Duisburg-Essen) tackles this challenge at the intersection between technological progress and social acceptance. It focuses on the trustworthiness of intelligent systems in safety-critical applications.

Its unique, human-centered approach encompasses interdisciplinary research in trustworthy data analytics, explainable machine learning and privacy-aware algorithms. The goal: to develop trustworthy intelligent systems and enable private citizens to understand that technology. A new film showcases the fascinating research undertaken at this center by introducing two outstanding international researchers and their topics. 

Find out more about the Research Center here.