CESNET Showcases Four Security Projects at Czech Ministry of Interior Technology Day

Prague, June 25, 2024 — CESNET showcased its scientific and research achievements at the Technology Day organized by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, held on June 5 in Prague. The event focused on cybersecurity within the Ministry's research and development programs.

Throughout the day, CESNET presented eleven ongoing and completed projects related to security research and development. The audience included IT and security administrators, as well as managers from government and security agencies.

Opening remarks – representatives of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, 5 June 2024

 

At the event, CESNET highlighted four collaborative projects involving the CZ.NIC association, Brno University of Technology, Czech Technical University in Prague, Masaryk University, and the companies NetX Networks and Flowmon Networks (now part of Progress Software Corporation).

CESNET has been dedicated to security research for over a decade. “Thanks to our security research efforts, we have built a unique team with deep expertise in cybersecurity, developed technologies to enhance infrastructure protection, and successfully commercialized several technologies for broader application,” said Doc. Ing. [Full Name].

During the conference, CESNET presented four key projects. The first was the Sharing and Analysis of Security Events in the Czech Republic project, completed in 2019 but still under active development. This project facilitates the exchange of cybersecurity events within the national academic network and beyond. "Our developed reputation database, nerd.cesnet.cz, is widely utilized by cybersecurity teams both domestically and internationally for incident management," added Ing. Martin Žádník, Ph.D.

Speaker Ing. Martin Žádník, Ph.D. (CESNET)

 

The project Distributed DDoS Mitigation in Critical Infrastructure Environments focuses on protecting network connectivity and enhancing the resilience of critical information infrastructure at interconnection nodes (IXPs) against DDoS attacks. It includes the development of a unique high-speed traffic cleaning technology, which has been validated for real-world deployment in national interconnection node environments.

Ensuring the proper functionality and performance of security devices handling high-speed network traffic is crucial. To address this, the FlowTest: Testing Network Monitoring Devices project developed a unique test lab capable of generating realistic high-speed network traffic. This lab is available for regular testing within the CESNET consortium and for interested external organizations.

The Encrypted Traffic Analysis Using Network Flows project tackles contemporary challenges in network security related to monitoring and analyzing encrypted traffic. As communication protocols evolve to improve security and privacy through encryption, monitoring becomes more complex. This project explores machine learning technologies to analyze traffic without decryption, producing valuable publications, datasets, and tools that advance the field.

Since 2010, the Home Office security research projects have fostered excellent collaborations between academia and industry, achieving cutting-edge R&D results. These innovative technologies provide the Czech Republic with a significant technological edge in cybersecurity.

Doc. Ing. Jan Kořenek, Ph.D., head of the CESNET research group, is confident that his team will continue to develop unique security technologies, including advancements through artificial intelligence and network data analysis using acceleration cards. "We have many ideas that can significantly benefit our national security partners. We believe that with ongoing security research, we will be able to implement these innovations," said Associate Professor Kořenek in an interview with representatives of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

Technology Day of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, 5 June 2024

 

Founded in 1996 by universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CESNET is dedicated to operating and advancing ICT services that constitute the national e-infrastructure for research, development, and education, known as e-INFRA CZ. In addition to its core mission, CESNET is actively involved in research and development in information and communication technologies. It is a key partner in several international research infrastructures, including the pan-European network for research, development, and education, GÉANT; the European Grid Infrastructure, EGI.eu; and the European Open Science Cloud, EOSC.

For more information, visit www.cesnet.cz and www.e-infra.cz.