Mega success for Graz University of Technology: Their “Ascon” algorithm becomes the international standard for data encryption. In one competition, the Graz 56 left very strong competitors behind, for example from the USA, China or Japan.
The comprehensive selection process lasted four years, and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has now announced that the Ascon algorithm developed at Graz University of Technology has been selected as the standard for lightweight cryptography. That means it is used both in private and commercial establishments. As the TU announces, Ascon is suitable for “miniature technologies such as medical implants or keyless car openers. The decisive factor for the algorithm of the TU Graz was the fact that on the one hand it can be implemented quickly, small, easily and securely and on the other hand it has additional features to protect against implementation attacks.” Ascon already had a leap of faith, since the project received another important evaluation, the Caesar Voting for Authenticated Encryption in 2019, and was thoroughly analyzed. The Graz-based company thus left 56 competitors from all over the world behind. Ascon started in 2014 at Graz University of Technology and has been continuously developed since then. The team consisted of Maria Eichlseder from the Institute for Applied Information Processing and Communication Technology and her fellow students at the time, Christoph Dobraunig, Florian Mendel and Martin Schläffer.
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