FORTRESS at CODE Jahrestagung 2026

15 July 2026

On 14–15 July 2026, the FORTRESS project participated in the CODE Jahrestagung 2026 at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. Under the central theme "Cryptography as a Strategic Enabler of Digital Defence," the event brought together experts from academia, industry, government, and public authorities to discuss current challenges and solutions for cybersecurity in the era of post-quantum cryptography.

FORTRESS contributed with technical presentations, an exhibition booth, and a dedicated workshop, showcasing the latest research on post-quantum cryptography, secure hardware, and Hardware Roots of Trust. At the project booth, our partner eShard demonstrated how side-channel attacks can compromise an ML-KEM implementation, highlighting that secure cryptographic algorithms alone are not sufficient—only secure implementations can provide effective protection against real-world attacks.

A particular highlight was the FORTRESS-organized workshop "PQ/T Hybrid Roots of Trust and Secure Boot in the Post-Quantum Era." Experts from PQShield, eShard, CyberHive, and the University of the Bundeswehr Munich explored different aspects of future hybrid Root-of-Trust architectures, ranging from secure boot and implementation security to continuously trusted communication systems and area-efficient, crypto-agile hardware accelerators. The workshop concluded with a panel discussion on the practical challenges of deploying hybrid post-quantum solutions in embedded systems and critical infrastructures.

In addition, Prof. Michael Hutter delivered an invited presentation entitled "Embedded Systems Security: When Cryptography Is Deployed in the Field." His talk demonstrated that the security of cryptographic algorithms ultimately depends on their implementation and illustrated how modern attacks such as side-channel analysis and fault injection threaten real embedded systems. The presentation also highlighted how artificial intelligence can be leveraged both to automate attacks and to support security evaluations and the development of effective countermeasures.

The many discussions with representatives from academia, industry, and government demonstrated the strong interest in trustworthy, quantum-secure hardware platforms and reinforced the importance of the FORTRESS project's objectives. The CODE Jahrestagung provided an excellent opportunity to establish new collaborations, present project results, and foster dialogue on the practical deployment of post-quantum cryptography.

Further information: https://pq-fortress.eu