IIT Guwahati Research team working towards protecting data from cyber attacks – India Today

A team of researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Pardubice, Czech Republic, is working towards developing indigenous algorithms that can protect the Nations digital data from cyber-attacks by advanced computers.

The team has also designed encryption architectures that can be used to protect sensitive health data that is transmitted through the internet.

The team's work has been published in the proceedings of IEEE International Conference Radioelektronika (RADIOELEKTRONIKA) and has received 3rd best paper award by IEEE Czechoslovakia Section based on its research contributions.

The recent advances in computer science, such as the development of the quantum computer, are all set to overthrow Moores law that has ruled the roost for the past half a century. The phenomenal computational power of quantum computers not only embodies possibilities of astronomical progress, but also enormous threats.

For example, while sensitive data is stringently protected by encryption (the virtual lock for precious data), the power of quantum computers can easily break even apparently invincible encryption codes. It is generally feared that once quantum computers become the predominant workhorse of the near-future digital era, almost all existing data-protective encryption schemes would become vulnerable and obsolete.

This need has given rise to a new field of research, called Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and state-of-art research teams all over the world, such as the one at IIT Guwahati, has been working on developing algorithms to secure data from attacks by advanced computers.

The team has developed various PQC-based encryption algorithms and designed indigenous soft IPs which can be integrated into Systems-on-Chip (SoC) to protect them from cyber-attacks. These algorithms and IPs would enable critical data such as national security data and citizen information to be under unbreakable lock-and-key, thereby enhancing the safety of our nation against cyber-attacks.

The IIT Guwahati team has also worked towards enhancing data security in the healthcare sector that is increasingly using the Internet-of-Things (IoT) to cater to the needs of the country.

IoT healthcare aids in the real-time diagnosis of diseases by keeping a patient digitally connected to a medical expert 24X7, thus avoiding the visits and admissions in the hospital, a facility particularly critical in these pandemic times.

For example, wearable health sensors, such as ECG devices, can automatically transmit data to the health care provider, but the transmitted data must be encrypted to prevent intentional or accidental modifications to it, which could affect diagnosis and treatment. In fact, the Indian government mandates that only encrypted health data and reports may be transmitted over the Internet.

Speaking about the work done by Dr Trivedis team, Professor T G Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, said, Both these electronic devices are the results of the joint efforts of IIT Guwahati and the University of Pardubice with whom we have successful collaboration for the past nine years. These devices are in-line with Indias vision of self-reliance and independence from foreign technology.

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IIT Guwahati Research team working towards protecting data from cyber attacks - India Today

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