Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The security of the implementations of PQC algorithms is vital for maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, authenticity and availability of digital information and communications in the face of implementation attacks, such as, for example, side-channel attacks using information from timing, power consumption, electromagnetic radiation, fault attacks disturbing the secure of operation of the device and their combination. Such attacks, eventually also enhanced by the use of deep learning, constitute significant threats to both (embedded and regular) software and hardware implementations.
Detailed Call Description
In various application areas such as IoT, cloud-based applications, automotive, measures to prevent such attacks currently lead to substantial resource overhead due to the complexity of the algorithms, and the security remains unclear given the limited exploration of different attack surfaces. Countermeasures, to the extent that they are available, may have significant impact on run-time and memory consumption. Resistance in PQC implementations to implementation attacks is an increasingly common concern among customers, especially when exploring the right balance between security and performance.
Evaluating the security of PQC algorithm implementations against side-channel and fault attacks is crucial, given the proven vulnerabilities. Various countermeasures, such as masking, shuffling, randomized clocking, random delay insertion, constant weight encoding, code polymorphism, control-flow integrity and re-computation of critical operations can be employed to mitigate these attacks. Synergies between specific countermeasures and the design of cryptographic systems are available for pre-quantum cryptography but require investigation for post-quantum cryptography.
Proposals are welcome on developing solutions that protect against such implementation attacks, at reasonable costs and minimizing the loss of performance while maintaining the required security, as well as on the analysis of new attacks or combinations of attacks, also powered by the use of AI, for security-by-design approaches when designing Post Quantum Cryptographic systems. Activities can also lead to the development of testing methodologies and frameworks for automated security evaluations for correctness and resistance to remote side-channel attacks for regular software and for correctness and resistance to a broad range of implementation attacks for embedded software and hardware.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Expected EU contribution per project: between €2.00 and €3.00 million.
Thematic Categories
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Information Technology
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Businesses
- Educational Institutions
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- NGOs
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Semi-governmental organisations
- Services Providers
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.
The following exceptions apply:
In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, participation in this topic is limited to legal entities established in Member States and Associated Countries and OECD countries.
In order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, shall not participate in the action.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre Cyprus (NCC-CY)
1 Andrea Chaliou, 1075 Engomi, Nicosia,
Telephone: 1447
Fax: +357 22693070
Email: info@ncc.cy
Website: https://ncc.cy/en/
EU Contact Point
ECCC Applicants Direct Contact Centre: applicants@eccc.europa.eu