Markus Kuhn
Encyclopedia
Markus G. Kuhn is a German
computer scientist
, currently teaching and researching at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
. A graduate of the University of Erlangen (Germany
), he received his MSc
at Purdue University
(Indiana
, US
) and PhD
at the University of Cambridge
(England
, UK
). He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge
.
Kuhn's main research interests include computer security
, in particular the hardware and signal-processing aspects of it, and distributed systems. He is known, among other things, for his work on security microcontrollers
, compromising emanations
, and distance-bounding protocol
s. He developed the Stirmark test for digital watermarking
schemes, the OTPW
one-time password system, and headed the project that extended the X11 misc-fixed fonts to Unicode
.
In 1987 and 1988, he won the German national computer-science contest, and in 1989, he won a gold medal for the West German team at the International Olympiad in Informatics
. In 1994, as an undergraduate student, he became known for developing several ways to circumvent the VideoCrypt
encryption system, most notably the Season7 smartcard emulator.
In 2002, he published a new method for eavesdropping CRT screens.
In 2010 Kuhn was asked to analyze the ADE-651, a device used in Iraq that was said to be a bomb-detecting device; he found that it contained nothing but an anti-theft tag and said that it was "impossible" that the device could detect anything whatsoever.
He is also known for some of his work on international standardization, such as pioneering the introduction of Unicode
/UTF-8
under Linux
..
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
computer scientist
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, currently teaching and researching at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
The Computer Laboratory is the computer science department of the University of Cambridge. As of 2007, it employs 35 academic staff, 25 support staff, 35 affiliated research staff, and about 155 research students...
. A graduate of the University of Erlangen (Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), he received his MSc
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
at Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
(Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) and PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
). He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Wolfson is one of a small number of Cambridge colleges which admit only students over the age of 21. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates, with around 15% studying undergraduate...
.
Kuhn's main research interests include computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
, in particular the hardware and signal-processing aspects of it, and distributed systems. He is known, among other things, for his work on security microcontrollers
Secure cryptoprocessor
A secure cryptoprocessor is a dedicated computer on a chip or microprocessor for carrying out cryptographic operations, embedded in a packaging with multiple physical security measures, which give it a degree of tamper resistance....
, compromising emanations
TEMPEST
TEMPEST is a codename referring to investigations and studies of compromising emission . Compromising emanations are defined as unintentional intelligence-bearing signals which, if intercepted and analyzed, may disclose the information transmitted, received, handled, or otherwise processed by any...
, and distance-bounding protocol
Distance-bounding protocol
Distance bounding protocols are cryptographic protocols that enable a verifier V to establish an upper bound on the physical distance to a prover P. They are based on timing the delay between sending out a challenge bits and receiving back the corresponding response bits...
s. He developed the Stirmark test for digital watermarking
Digital watermarking
Digital watermarking is the process of embedding information into a digital signal which may be used to verify its authenticity or the identity of its owners, in the same manner as paper bearing a watermark for visible identification. In digital watermarking, the signal may be audio, pictures, or...
schemes, the OTPW
OTPW
OTPW is a one-time password system developed for authentication in Unix-like operating systems by Markus Kuhn. A user's real password is not directly transmitted across the network. Rather, the real password is combined with a short set of characters and a set of one-time tokens to form a...
one-time password system, and headed the project that extended the X11 misc-fixed fonts to Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
.
In 1987 and 1988, he won the German national computer-science contest, and in 1989, he won a gold medal for the West German team at the International Olympiad in Informatics
International Olympiad in Informatics
The International Olympiad in Informatics is an annual computer science competition for secondary school students. The first IOI was held in 1989 in Pravetz, Bulgaria....
. In 1994, as an undergraduate student, he became known for developing several ways to circumvent the VideoCrypt
VideoCrypt
VideoCrypt is a cryptographic, smartcard-based conditional access television encryption system that scrambles analogue pay-TV signals. It was introduced in 1989 by News Datacom and was used initially by Sky TV and subsequently by several other broadcasters on the SES Astra satellites at 19.2°...
encryption system, most notably the Season7 smartcard emulator.
In 2002, he published a new method for eavesdropping CRT screens.
In 2010 Kuhn was asked to analyze the ADE-651, a device used in Iraq that was said to be a bomb-detecting device; he found that it contained nothing but an anti-theft tag and said that it was "impossible" that the device could detect anything whatsoever.
He is also known for some of his work on international standardization, such as pioneering the introduction of Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
/UTF-8
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a multibyte character encoding for Unicode. Like UTF-16 and UTF-32, UTF-8 can represent every character in the Unicode character set. Unlike them, it is backward-compatible with ASCII and avoids the complications of endianness and byte order marks...
under Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
..