Sebastian N. Peters

Sebastian N. Peters has been an IT security researcher at Fraunhofer AISEC since 2021, after completing master's degrees in electrical engineering and information technology and in economics at RWTH Aachen University. He is doing his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich on industrial cyber security with a focus on authentication, trust establishment, protocol security and critical infrastructure.

Joined: 12. February 2025
Articles: 3

How Secure Is Europe’s Rail System? A Systematic Cybersecurity Risk Analysis of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

Visual of the Blog Post: How Secure Is Europe's Rail System? A Systematic Cybersecurity Risk Analysis of the ERTMS

The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is designed to make Europe’s railways interoperable and safe. The system, which has been mandatory since 2002, combines standardized signaling, radio communication, and train control – but how well is it protected against cyberattacks? Using MoRA, our modular risk assessment approach, we systematically model the ERTMS and evaluate cybersecurity risks. We compare current and future configurations to identify the assets with the largest attack surface. Our overview of the entire system – from GSM-R, balises, FRMCS, ETCS levels, and ATO to key management – provides a concise preview of risk profiles and attack tree scenarios, and highlights practical countermeasures that significantly improve cybersecurity.

Gateway to the Danger Zone: Secure and Authentic Remote Reset in Machine Safety

Modern manufacturing is rapidly digitizing, unlocking new business models and unprecedented efficiency. While remote operation has become commonplace, machine safety has still required hands-on, local intervention — until now. Our latest work at Fraunhofer AISEC bridges this gap with a secure, authentic remote reset system for safety events, blending future-proof cryptography and robust safety design. Here’s how we’re redefining the boundaries of safe, remote manufacturing.

Parsing X.509 Certificates: How Secure Are TLS Libraries?

Digital certificates like X.509 are essential for secure internet communication by enabling authentication and data integrity. However, differences in how they are parsed by various TLS libraries can introduce security risks. A recent study by Fraunhofer AISEC analyzed six widely used X.509 parsers with real-world certificates. The findings reveal inconsistencies that could impact security-critical applications. In this article, we summarize the key results and explain why companies need to scrutinize their cryptographic libraries.