Month: November 2023

Rethinking security for “alternative computer architectures”

The "Moore's Law" is to be saved. The preliminary study "Alternative Computer Architectures" is to bring it back into balance. The Cyberagentur has published a call for tenders on the security of rethought computer models.
The “Moore’s Law” is to be saved. The preliminary study “Alternative Computer Architectures” is to bring it back into balance. The Cyberagentur has published a call for tenders on the security of rethought computer models.

The Agentur für Innovation in der Cybersicherheit GmbH (Cyberagentur) wants to focus on the security and technological sovereignty of newly designed computer models beyond today’s binary logic with a call for preliminary studies on alternative computer architectures. On November 23, 2023, it published the call for proposals for research into the security of fundamentally new computer technologies.

Neurons and synapses of the human brain will form the basic concept of our computer chips in future? This could become a reality with neuromorphic chips. They are a type of computer hardware designed to mimic the structure and functioning of the human brain. This type of technology falls under the field of neuromorphic computing and has the goal of developing more efficient and powerful computers. This technology is inspired by biology and is modelled on natural nerve networks. Organoid intelligence is a similar approach, except that neurons grown in the laboratory are used. Which is better and for what purposes?

The aim is to initiate the investigation of newly designed computer models that go beyond the current binary logic of current semiconductor chips. At present, most computers are digital computers in which the data storage and computing units are separate. However, there are fundamental and economic limits to increasing the performance of this technology. Further advances in computing therefore require new approaches and architectures. At the same time, new technologies could reduce dependence on strategic raw materials.

The call for proposals aims to investigate the security-relevant capabilities of these computer architectures. Their use could lead to new capabilities for security-relevant calculations, such as more efficient encryption. At the same time, however, the question also arises as to whether these technologies will create new security vulnerabilities.

A total of nine months is planned for the project. The results of the preliminary study are to be summarised in the form of a framework, compared and aligned with the security-related requirements of the users. It is then planned to organise a major research competition to investigate the individual architectures on the basis of the results of the preliminary study.

The invitation to tender was published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union with the award number 2023-I-076: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:718794-2023:TEXT:DE:HTMLsrc=0.

Further information: https://www.cyberagentur.de/ara