The second round of the Hessian-Israeli Partnership Accelerator (HIPA) was concluded with a final event on the panorama floor of the Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt/Main. Three German-Israeli teams presented their research results to around 80 guests from international politics and the financial and cyber security sectors, including Sandra Simovich, Consul General of the State of Israel, Dr. Stefan Heck, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of the Interior, and Jörg Hessenmüller, COO and member of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank AG.

During the twelve-week program, the teams with participants from both countries developed solution approaches for the security of 5G networks, for protection against fraudulent e-mails (CEO fraud) and for securing Internet infrastructures. The newest Fraunhofer developments complemented the teams’ presentations, including a tool for the automated analysis of software code, various multimedia forensics tools and new protection mechanisms for the Internet domain name system. As in the first round of the accelerator, the research partners of the program were Allianz and Cisco.

The Hessian-Israeli Partnership Accelerator HIPA is the only bilateral program of its kind focusing on cyber security. The program is a joint activity of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT in Darmstadt and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (HUJI) in Israel. The project teams consist of cyber security talents from both countries who jointly develop solutions for current problems in everyday business life. The participants attend workshops in Jerusalem and Darmstadt, gain insights into the start-up culture of both countries and learn marketing and entrepreneurship basics. This year, they also completed a cyber range training program lasting several days.

The next round will start in spring 2020 under the new name German Israeli Partnership Accelerator (GIPA), applications may already be submitted. Further information on the program can be found at www.cybertech.fraunhofer.de.

Quotes

Prof. Dr. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft:

"Cyber security is an issue that touches the very foundations of our free society and the rights of self-determination: it impacts the sovereignty of our government institutions, the security of critical infrastructure, the interests of a free market economy, and citizens' rights and freedoms. That is what makes security an essential topic for applied research – and thus for Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and its partners in Israel."

Sandra Simovich, Consul General of Israel to South Germany:

“One of the most effective means for a better acquaintance of people is to bring them together. In HIPA, young Germans and young Israelis – our common future generation – work together on cyber security projects. We do have some binational accelerators. But HIPA is the only one in cyber security, and I cannot emphasize enough of how much importance this topic is and how it directly affects our daily lives.”

Dr. Michael von der Horst, Managing Director Cybersecurity, Cisco:

“Cisco is pleased to be partner of Fraunhofer SIT at HIPA 2019 once again. The closing event addressed very current cybersecurity issues with projects on 5G security, Internet routing and code verification. With its intercultural approach, Fraunhofer SIT has also made a significant contribution to promoting the start-up mentality among students.”

Prof. David Hay, Head of the Federmann Cyber Security Center at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI):

“HIPA is a unique experience for our young students. For the first time, they are collaborating outside of Israel in this vibrant field of cyber security. They learn about a different culture and different experiences, and they bring in their own individual experience from their studies and sometimes also from military service. This is an excellent example of international collaboration between students and research institutions that both sides take advantage of.”