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Markus Kuhn
I am a University Lecturer in Computer Science
at the University of Cambridge
Computer Laboratory and a Fellow
of Wolfson College.
Primarily a computer scientist by training, I also have backgrounds
in electronics, digital signal processing, communications
engineering, and physiology. My broader interests cover most aspects of
applied computer science and technology, including neurophysiology
and robotics.
My research and that of my PhD students has focused so far on
computer security, in
particular hardware and
signal-processing aspects of this very wide field. Compromising emanations,
RFID security, and the security of positioning systems
(distance-bounding protocols,
authentication of navigation signals) have recently been particular
areas of interest. I also worked in the past on hardware tamper
resistance, smartcards, network security, “intellectual property”
protection technology (in particular pay-TV conditional access),
data compression, video and audio technology, FPGA applications, and some
standardization matters (character sets,
semi-structured data, file formats, etc.).
Dr Markus Kuhn
University of Cambridge
Computer Laboratory
15 JJ Thomson Avenue
Cambridge CB3 0FD
United Kingdom
Home
address (only local access)
Reachability status: Back in Cambridge, catching up with 3 weeks of email.
Selected papers
- An RFID Distance Bounding Protocol
(IEEE SecureComm 2005, Athens).
This paper describes an
alternative to the classic Brands/Chaum crypto protocol for proofing
how close together two communicating parties are, with some
performance benefits for ultra-wideband RFID applications. Applications
include the protection of next-generation payment and access-control
smartcards against relay attacks.
- An Asymmetric Security Mechanism for
Navigation Signals (2004 Information Hiding
Workshop, Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, LNCS
3200).
This paper proposes a broadcast authentication technique for
navigation signals (GPS, Galileo, Loran-C, etc.). The technique
protects not only the integrity of the transmitted data,
but also its nanosecond-resolution arrival time, and therefore the actual
positioning result. In other words, it introduces an efficient
and effective digital-signing technique for GPS-style signals
that makes it practical to offer civilian users a level of
security currently only available to the military. Applications
include pay-as-you-go car insurance and road-charging schemes,
where this technique can substantially help to prevent large-scale
tampering. (slides)
- Compromising emanations: eavesdropping risks of computer
displays (Technical Report UCAM-CL-TR-577).
This is my PhD thesis on radio-frequency and optical
eavesdropping techniques for computers. Some of its chapters are
summarized in the following three papers:
- Optical Time-Domain
Eavesdropping Risks of CRT Displays (Proceedings of the
2002 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy,
Berkeley, California, 12–15 May 2002).
This award-winning paper extends the concept of
TEMPEST eavesdropping to the optical band by demonstrating that
the image displayed on a CRT can be reconstructed from diffusely
reflected monitor light. (FAQ)
- Electromagnetic Eavesdropping
Risks of Flat-Panel Displays (4th Workshop on
Privacy Enhancing Technologies proceedings, Springer-Verlag, LNCS
3424).
This paper demonstrates that flat-panel
displays with digital interface cables, including those in many
laptops, can pose at least as much of an eavesdropping risk as
CRTs. It also introduces a very effective new software-based
protection technique. (slides)
- Security Limits for
Compromising Emanations (CHES 2005
proceedings, Springer-Verlag, LNCS
3659).
This paper outlines a protection standard
against far-field VHF/UHF eavesdropping of video signals. (slides)
- StegFS: A Steganographic File System
for Linux (Information Hiding Workshop 1999,
Springer-Verlag, LNCS
1768, pp. 463–477).
This paper describes the design and implementation of
the first Unix/Linux file system with plausible deniability for
the existence of hidden files.
- Design
Principles for Tamper-Resistant Smartcard Processors
(USENIX
Workshop on Smartcard Technology proceedings, Chicago, Illinois,
USA, May 10–11, 1999).
This award-winning paper was the first to describe
how microprobing techniques
compromised smartcard security in the pay-TV industry in the 1990s.
It also proposed a number of countermeasures. Some of these
have since been implemented in commercial security microcontrollers
(perhaps even in the ones that you carry today in your banking card
or mobile phone). (slides)
More papers ...
Some other online texts
- Effective scientific electronic
publishing contains a number of tips for preparing online
papers, mostly intended for our local research group, but
probably useful for others as well who want to generate nice PDF
files with LaTeX.
- I have a long-standing interest in the international
standardization of technical conventions. The habit of doing
things differently than the rest of the world can be a source of
great annoyance, especially on the Internet. I wrote a few
tutorials on areas that I feel particularly passionate about,
some of which have become widely-quoted references over the
years:
- I have a sideline interest in computer
timekeeping. I proposed a new Time and
calendar API for the C programming language, which
stimulated a lot of activity in that direction. My UTS is a proposed standard for robust
handling of UTC leap seconds in computers. There is also
collected information on low-frequency
radio time signals.
Software
- OTPW is my one-time password package for
POSIX systems, optimized for being used with printed password
lists and designed to be more robust against certain
denial-of-service attacks than various older schemes.
- JBIG-KIT is my portable C implementation
of a highly effective lossless bi-level image compression
algorithm based on context sensitive arithmetic coding. The JBIG algorithm (specified in ITU-T Recommendation T.82) implemented in this library is
especially suitable for compressing scanned documents and fax
pages. You can also download the (German) project report (Studienarbeit) that I
wrote about JBIG-KIT (abstract).
- I prepared and maintain the ISO 10646-1
extension of the classic X Window System pixel fonts.
- In early 1997, I wrote StirMark, a
robustness testing tool for steganographic watermarking
algorithms of still images. It is now maintained by Fabien
Petitcolas.
Older material previously found here is now in my home page attic.
Teaching
I supervise several PhD students: Gerhard Hancke, Marcus Granado, Saar Drimer, and Andrew Lewis.
Piotr
Zieliński and Steven Murdoch have already graduated.
Ross Anderson and I organize a Security
Seminar Series, which is open to the public.
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