CWI cryptanalyst Marc Stevens won the Martinus van Marum Prize 2013. On 21 June he received the award from the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) for his PhD research at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI). Stevens defended his dissertation ‘Attacks on Hash Functions and Applications’ in 2012 at the Mathematical Institute of Leiden University. He gained worldwide fame through his research on the security of Internet security standard MD5 and his analysis of the Flame virus, a virus used for international espionage.
Stevens did his PhD research within the NWO VICI project of Ronald Cramer. Today, he is postdoc researcher in the CWI Cryptology group. The jury said: "Stevens’ work has caused a stir all over the world and already led to the development of improved methods for the security of the Internet. With his research, real dangers can be averted. His research is an example of profound theoretical analysis with far-reaching social consequences, which show the importance of mathematics and computer science in today's society. "
The Martinus van Marum Prize was established by J.C. Ruigrok Foundation in Haarlem as an incentive for researchers who received their PhD degree not longer than five years ago, for original research in the field of science and technology. Once every five years a researcher in mathematics, computer science, physics or astronomy receives this price, consisting of a medal of honor and 12,000 euros. Members of this year’s jury were Prof. C.W.J. Beenakker (UL), Prof. J. P. Hogendijk (UU) and Prof. H. J. Sips (TUD).
Marc Steven’s most recent research is about 'counter-cryptanalysis', which enables the use of weak cryptographic standards in a secure way by detecting and countering attacks, especially in digital signatures.
More information
http://www.cwi.nl/~stevens
http://www.khmw.nl/actueel/keetje-hodshon-prijs-ruigrok-prijs-en-van-marum-prijs-2013-uitgereikt/132
Picture: Marc Stevens receives the Martinus van Marum Price, handed over by E.H. Huisman, secretary from the J.C. Ruigrok Foundation. Photographer: Hilde de Wolf
