D-INFK news channel

We've all heard it, we all know it, we’ve all seen it: Computer science is not regarded as a “beacon” of diversity. In this interview, Professor Kenny Paterson, Head of the Department of Computer Science details his experiences with diversity, the challenges we face, and how D-INFK might be getting a bit better one step at a time.

The Department of Computer Science is rapidly growing, and so is the number of its current sites. Being so fragmented and spread around the city, it can be difficult for department members to find a sense of belonging. Professor Kenny Paterson, the new Department Head, talks about the challenges but also opportunities he will face in this demanding role.

Professor Kenny Paterson, doctoral student Matteo Scarlata and Master’s student Kien Tuong Truong (meanwhile also a doctoral student) of the Applied Cryptography Group conducted a security analysis of the Threema messenger application and found vulnerabilities.

For his excellent teaching, Prof. Kenny Paterson, head of the Applied Cryptography Group at the Department of Computer Science, receives the Golden Owl 2022. Congratulations!

Three teams of researchers from the Department of Computer Science have received awards at the ACM Computer and Communications Security Conference (CCS), one of the top conferences in the field of security.

A team of cryptographers, led by Professor Kenny Paterson, conducted extensive testing on the New Zealand-​based cloud platform Mega. In doing so, they discovered security holes that would allow the provider to decrypt and manipulate customer data.

Founded by students, the ETH organisation Cyber Group ETH Student Initiative is dedicated to cyber security. Its co-founder and former president, Karin Holzhauser, and current president Christian Knabenhans explain where Cyber Group came from and where it’s headed.

Thirty international teams competed virtually in the Geneva Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge 2022, including two teams of ETH students. Both made it all the way to the finals, winning second and fourth place, and a special prize. Before the competition, all students went through a rigorous two-month training programme provided by the student organisation Cyber Group.

Since June 2020, Professor Kenny Paterson has represented the Department of Computer Science in the Commission for Good Scientific Practice at ETH Zurich. In this interview, he talks about the role of scientists and scientific integrity in computer science.

For a long time, the development of quantum computers was concerned with theoretical and hardware aspects. But as the focus shifts towards programming, software and security issues, the classical computer sciences are coming back into play.

For the first time, ETH Zürich’s CTF team flagbot qualified for the prestigious DEFCON CTF competition. Our joint participation with EPFL students was a big success. Not only did we make it into the top 10, we also finished as the best European team.

Researchers from the Applied Cryptography group led by Professor Kenny Paterson collaborated with scientists from Royal Holloway, University of London to identify several cryptographic weaknesses in the popular messaging platform Telegram.

The ETH CTF (Capture the Flag) team “flagbot”, led by computer science student and VIS committee chairman Leonardo Galli, has qualified for the CTF finals in Las Vegas in August at DEFCON, the world’s largest hacker convention.

Twenty international teams competed in the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge 2020, including five teams from ETH Zurich. In an unprecedented winning streak, the ETH Zurich teams not only took the top five places, but also won all the special prizes. The thorough preparation by the student organisation Cyber Group was one of the reasons for their success.

Postdoctoral researcher Felix Günther received this significant award in the field of computer and information security at the 26th ACM Computer and Communication Security Conference in London, UK.

Prof. Kenny Paterson, head of the Applied Cryptography Group, explains the secret behind prime numbers and how they matter to our daily lives.

Professor Kenneth Paterson officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich at the beginning of April 2019. He will be leading the newly established Applied Cryptography group. Get to know him in this short interview.