Pablo Sánchez Serrano is visiting us from the University of Málaga. His PhD focuses on Privacy and AI, with two primary goals: leveraging AI techniques as privacy-enhancing technologies, and protecting sensitive information throughout the AI training lifecycle.
#choosecosic

Welcome to our new intern, Neeranuch Jitkhajornwanich! She will be researching "Dissymmetric Modes for Symmetric Cryptography: Leveraging Unbalanced Ends in IoT Protocols" during her stay here.
#choosecosic

Jonas Bertels successfully defended his PhD thesis today, congratulations! 🎓🎉🍾

"Anonymity does not mean impunity." Professor Bart Preneel warns that ending online anonymity and imposing age checks on social media are ineffective, disproportionate, and dangerous - risking surveillance cultures, with no evidence they reduce harm.
https://www.hbvl.be/nieuws/experts-trekken-voorstel-online-leeftijdscontrole-in-twijfel-en-verdedigen-pseudoniemen/128749841.html

Vincent Rijmen and Joan Daemen receive the #BVVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
https://eng.kuleuven.be/en/news-calendar/news-items/vincent-rijmen-en-joan-daemen-receive-the-bvva-foundation-frontiers-of-knowledge-award
#cosic #kuleuven #aes #rijndael

"Lessons from Integrating PQ Algorithms into the #Botan Open Source Library" by Amos Treiber at the #PQCSA workshop Open-Source #PQC Libraries and Implementations today in Brussels.
https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events/pqcsa-workshop-pqc-migration/program/
#quantum #postquantum #cosic #kuleuven

Simon Josefsson discussing #SSH and Post-Quantum Crypto at the #PQCSA workshop Open-Source #PQC Libraries and Implementations today.
https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events/pqcsa-workshop-pqc-migration/program/
#quantum #postquantum #cosic #kuleuven

Hanno Becker is teaching #mlkem/#mldsa-native at the #PQCSA workshop Open-Source #PQC Libraries and Implementations today in Brussels.
https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events/pqcsa-workshop-pqc-migration/program/
#quantum #postquantum #cosic #kuleuven

He Rongkuan giving a quick overview of #OpenHiTLS at the #PQCSA workshop Open-Source #PQC Libraries and Implementations today in Brussels.
https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events/pqcsa-workshop-pqc-migration/program/
#quantum #postquantum #cosic #kuleuven

Professor Bart Preneel introduces post-quantum cryptography to the audience at the #PQCSA workshop on Open-Source #PQC Libraries and Implementations, covering algorithms, standards and real-world deployments.
https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/events/pqcsa-workshop-pqc-migration/program/
#quantum #postquantum #cosic #kuleuven

Great turnout at the #PQCSA workshop on Open-Source #PQC Libraries and Implementations in Brussels! The day kicked off with a welcome speech by organizer Aysajan Abidin.
#quantum #postquantum #cosic #kuleuven

"On the active security of the PEARL-SCALLOP group action" (Tako Boris Fouotsa, Marc Houben, Gioella Lorenzon, Ryan Rueger, Parsa Tasbihgou) is accepted at PQCrypto 2026.
https://pqcrypto2026.irisa.fr/

El algoritmo que protege la vida digital de millones de personas, Premio BBVA Fronteras del Conocimiento

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.abc.es/tecnologia/algoritmo-protege-vida-digital-millones-personas-premio-20260129120157-nt.html

Daemen y Rijmen, creadores del cifrado que protege internet, premiados por la Fundación BBVA Fronteras del Conocimiento
https://www.antena3.com/noticias/sociedad/daemen-rijmen-creadores-cifrado-que-protege-internet-premiados-fundacion-bbva-fronteras-conocimiento_20260129697b5f219243cc133c285ccf.html?so=so%3Asour-twitter%3Acn-antena3noticias

El premio Fronteras reconoce a los artífices del sistema que protege la seguridad y la privacidad en internet
https://elpais.com/tecnologia/2026-01-29/el-premio-fronteras-reconoce-a-los-artifices-del-sistema-que-protege-la-seguridad-y-la-privacidad-en-internet.html

We are proud to announce that Prof. Vincent Rijmen (COSIC, KU Leuven) and Prof. Joan Daemen (Radboud University) have received the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award for designing the #Rijndael algorithm (#AES), which secures billions of devices worldwide, from websites to mobile phones and cloud services.
Press release: https://www.frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.es/noticias/18th-edition-frontiers-of-knowledge-award-information-communication-technologies-joan-daemen-vincent-rijmen/
Interview: https://youtu.be/-t_5POYIz08

📌 #PiVer is authored by seven current and three recently graduated COSIC PhD members, highlighting sustained research feeding into standardisation efforts.
More info on PiVer: https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/sites/nist-mptc-piver/

📢 COSIC researchers have contributed to multiple preview submissions for upcoming responses to the #NIST Call for Multi-Party Threshold Schemes (1st round previews, Jan 2026).
https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/threshold-cryptography/tcall-1

COSIC contributions include previews of:
- PiVer: Π Verifiable Secret Sharing Framework
- PQarrots: Macaw, Kea and Kakapo (Threshold primitives from (isogeny-based) group actions)
- Haystack: Threshold and Distributed Stateful Hash-Based Signatures
See https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/threshold-cryptography/tcall-1

How do governments shut down the internet, and could it happen in Belgium? In Knack, Bart Preneel explains how Iran disconnected 90 million people, why full blackouts are technically hard here, and where our real digital vulnerabilities lie. Buy Knack magazine to read interview.

Catch up on COSIC news! Our December–January newsletter is now online: https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/sites/newsletter/2026/01/27/cosic-newsletter-december-january/