Software & Telecommunications
Secure Applications and Services
Digital value creation and innovation are often based on software-based solutions and processes. Due to advances in the field of artificial intelligence, the software industry in particular is undergoing a transformation, as AI opens the door to significant efficiency gains as well as new or revised business models. At the same time, regulatory requirements for the IT industry as a whole are increasing.
Through its research services, Fraunhofer SIT supports IT users and software development companies in enhancing the security of software-based products and services, as well as in designing software-based innovations efficiently and in compliance with regulations. Fraunhofer SIT focuses in particular on the intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. This involves not only improving cybersecurity through AI, but also ensuring the security of AI applications themselves and defending against AI-enabled attacks. To this end, the institute operates the necessary infrastructure to conduct complex security-related tests of AI systems within a dedicated research cluster.
Your Challenges – Our Priorities
Improving the Security Quality of Applications
Vulnerabilities in software and services pose a threat to your company. We support you with in-depth analyses, structured threat and risk assessments, penetration tests, and innovative, research-based methods to measurably improve the security quality and application security of your products. Our research and the tools developed at the institute also provide new approaches to automated risk detection and quality assurance throughout the software lifecycle.
Compliance and Regulation (NIS2, Cyber Resilience Act, AI Act)
With the NIS 2 Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), the requirements for companies regarding cybersecurity and the necessary processes are increasing. We support you in implementing regulatory obligations, developing security strategies, and creating robust, customized security assessments and comprehensive documentation.
Assessment and Control of External Software and Data Flows
In increasingly interconnected ecosystems linked via APIs, open-source components, or cloud services, the assessment of third-party software is a critical factor. We investigate risks in software supply chains, analyze interfaces and data flows, and help implement privacy requirements and data protection regulations from both a technical and organizational perspective. Depending on the platform used, we may examine the source code or, if source code is not available, the binary file.
Making Telecommunications Services Secure and Resilient
For telecommunications service operators and providers, we research and develop solutions for identity verification and the security of network infrastructures. Our goal: resilient communication systems that ensure security, availability, and data protection in equal measure.
Our Approach: Research Meets Practice
As an independent applied research institute, we combine scientific excellence with industrial experience. We develop methods, models, and tools that enable companies to design secure software and telecommunications systems, meet regulatory requirements, and build lasting trust in digital products and services.
Drawing on our experience from more than 20 years of manual software assessment projects, our deep understanding of IT security risks in software implementations, and our research—conducted for more than 15 years—on the automated analysis of software, including the development of our own commercial analysis tools, we are able to conduct software security assessments quickly, thoroughly, and in a practical manner.
Our in-house security tools enable us to assess software for security vulnerabilities even in the presence of anti-analysis measures (e.g., debugger detection, rooting detection, code obfuscation, software integrity checks, and hooking detection). This is achieved through static and dynamic analysis, symbolic execution, fuzzing, and similarity detection, or by analyzing the source code of the respective software.
An Overview of Our Services
IT Security Testing Lab
The Fraunhofer SIT IT Security Test Laboratory brings together the institute’s various testing expertise and test laboratories. On behalf of our clients, we evaluate hardware- and software-based systems for security properties and compliance requirements. We perform black-box, gray-box, and white-box analyses of software, devices, networks, and infrastructures. We provide vendor-neutral, customized consulting and support—from requirements analysis and concept development through to the implementation of modern, future-proof security solutions. The institute’s research-based tools and methods are continuously refined, enabling us to go beyond the state of the art.