Maria Eichlseder

Research

My research interests include the design and cryptanalysis of symmetric cryptographic algorithms, such as hash functions and authenticated encryption algorithms and their underlying primitives: permutations, (tweakable) block ciphers, etc. In my research, I am particularly interested in their "practical security", which includes robustness against misuse and implementation attacks in addition to cryptanalytic security. I enjoy exploring mathematical aspects of cryptanalysis, useful tools and heuristics, and connections between cryptanalytic and physical attacks.

I currently have an open PhD position starting 2026 - apply until 30 Nov 2025!

Current team members:

• Marcel Nageler, PhD candidate
• Simon Gerhalter, PhD student
• Markus Schiffermüller, PhD student

Alumni:

• Debasmita Chakraborty, Postdoc 2025.
• Hosein Hadipour, PhD January 2025. Now at Ruhr University Bochum.

• Ascon, a family of authenticated ciphers and hash functions selected in the NIST lightweight crypto standardization process (NIST SP 800-232) and winner in the "lightweight" category of the CAESAR competition
• ISAP, a lightweight authenticated cipher designed for robustness against side-channel attacks and finalist in the NIST lightweight crypto standardization process
• CASTLE tools, some of my research team's cryptanalysis tools and source code for our papers
• Malicious SHA-1