KASTEL (BMBF)

The Competence Center for Applied Security Technology (KASTEL) is one of three competence centers for cyber security in Germany, which were initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in March 2011. Following the motto “Comprehensible security in the networked world”, KASTEL is meeting the challenges posed by the increasing interconnection of previously isolated systems. Of particular importance are the consequences of digitalization in the area of critical infrastructures, for example in the energy economy, in industrial production or networked mobility, but also in "intelligent" environments. KASTEL bundles the competencies in the field of IT security at the research location Karlsruhe. The goal is to develop a widespread approach instead of isolated partial solutions. The focus will be on comprehensive security in specific application areas, such as power grids or intelligent factories. To ensure this security, new threats need to be modeled, security objectives need to be described and new methods have to be developed. This can only be achieved through the cooperation of cryptographers, IT-security specialists, software-engineers, network experts, jurists, economics and social scientists – like here at KASTEL.

The goal of the project 'human factors' is to research security concepts and awareness approaches in the context of energy providers.

Project website

Funding body: BMBF

Partners: FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik; Fraunhofer-Institut for Optronik, Systemtechnik und Bildauswertung; secorvo Security Consulting Karlsruhe; Karlsruher IT-Sicherheitsinitiative; Surveillance: Ethical Issues, Legal Limitations and Efficienty; Forschungsverband - Sicherheit im öffentlichen Raum; AISEC - Fraunhofer-Einrichtung für Angewante und Integrierte Sicherheit

Funding period: 01.05.2018 - 30.04.2021

Contact: Lukas Aldag, Benjamin ReinheimerMelanie Volkamer