Description
Master’s thesis in cooperation with Fraunhofer AISEC
Can it run PQC? Simulating embedded use cases to identify bottlenecks
Motivation
Quantum computers pose a serious threat to today’s cryptography, making Post-Quantum
Cryptography (PQC) a necessity for securing future systems. But PQC schemes bring new
performance, memory, and energy characteristics, which can quickly make established
design practices obsolete. Running real-world benchmarks for all use cases is not feasible.
Using a simulation framework instead can help identify bottlenecks, trade-offs, and break-
even points across scenarios.
Tasks
The goal of this thesis is to develop a simulation framework to efficiently characterize bot-
tlenecks that PQC introduces into traditional security use cases. The work will begin with a
survey of existing simulation and emulation frameworks applicable to PQC or to embedded
security scenarios such as secure communication and secure boot. In parallel, benchmark
datasets of cryptographic operations and embedded platforms will be analyzed to provide
the basis for modeling. Building on these insights, a suitable framework will be selected,
extended, or newly developed. The framework should be modular and extensible, sup-
porting different levels of detail and integration with other simulators. Finally, the approach
will be implemented and evaluated, for example by comparing simulation results against
practical benchmarks on real hardware.
Prerequisites
• Self-initiative and the ability to work in a self-directed way;
• Knowledge in IT security or cryptography, ideally experience in PQC or simulation.
• Experience in programming and system design
Contact
Please send your application with current CV and transcript of records to:
Nikolai Puch
Product Protection and Industrial Security
Mail: Nikolai.Puch@aisec.fraunhofer.de
Phone: +49 89 322 9986-142
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security (AISEC)
Lichtenbergstr. 11, 85748 Garching near Munich
Publication Date: 25.08.2025
|
Thesis topic in co-operation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security AISEC, Garching