Last Friday, the award ceremony for the internet thesis awards organized by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities will take place in Haarlem. Moritz Müller, a graduate of the EIT Digital Master’s programme in Security and Privacy, will receive the thesis award in the ‘Internet and Engineering Sciences’ category. Mr Müller studied at the University of Trento in Italy during the first year of his programme and completed his studies at the University of Twente.
His thesis is entitled: “Sidekick: Suspicious domain classification in the .nl zone” and was written during his internship at SIDN (Foundation for Internet Domain Registration in the Netherlands). SIDN registers and monitors all .nl domain names. He uncovered patterns that were similar for both websites that are used for the distribution of malware and websites used for phishing activities. Based on this analysis, Müller developed an innovative tool he calls Sidekick, which can automatically detect if a particular domain is being used for malicious purposes. Sidekick is the first instrument that can give a clear indication of the risk of abuse of a domain.
Dr Andreas Peter, University of Twente lecturer and thesis advisor explains: “Moritz Müller has shown that EIT Digital works. EIT Digital combines technical education programmes such as Security and Privacy with programmes in the area of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This Master’s degree and Mr Müller’s thesis are highly relevant to organizations and society. In this way, the University of Twente and the Netherlands will also be able to attract larger numbers of exceptional international students such as German national Moritz Müller. SIDN did not hesitate to offer Mr Müller a job and that is proof that this combination is successful.”
Willem Jonker, CEO of EIT Digital says: “This programme offers a unique combination of courses from top-notch IT degrees and courses on innovation and entrepreneurship. Talented graduates possess the knowledge and experience to take a practical and innovative approach to tackling the challenges that Europe faces, now and in the future. We are proud to announce that we have already had the pleasure of educating 1200 students.”
The internet thesis awards ceremony
The ceremony was chaired by Professor Alexander Rinnooy Kan, President of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. The awards was presented by representatives from the four sponsors of the award: Google, Brinkhof, SIDN and Greenhost. His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn of Orange made an appearance at the ceremony.
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About EIT Digital
EIT Digital was founded in 2010 and is one of five current Knowledge and Innovation Communities at the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. EIT Digital’s mission is to promote the social and economic impact of the digital transformation for Europe. Education is an important aspect in this. EIT Digital also has close alliances with 20 European universities including the three technical universities in the Netherlands. Last year 145 Master’s students graduated and 300 new students were admitted to the degree programme. A total of roughly 1200 students have completed an EIT Digital Master’s degree programme. One hundred EIT Digital students are studying in the Netherlands. The advantage that EIT Digital brings is that students immediately come into contact with the daily practice and that they receive a certificate for taking the Minor programme in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in addition to a Master’s degree in IT. An added bonus is being able to study in two European cities. In order to be admitted to the EIT Digital Programme, students have to meet a number of strict requirements. EU citizens can apply for one of the eight majors until the end of this month. In addition to the Master’s degree programme there is also a Doctor’s School and a course for professionals. For more information about EIT Digital go to www.eitdigital.eu and for more information about the Master’s degree programme go to www.masterschool.eitdigital.eu. EIT Digital’s partners in the Netherlands are: Delft University of Technology, University of Twente, Eindhoven University of Technology, Philips, TNO, NXP, TomTom, High Tech NL, iMinds, Océ, Thales, Bosch Security Systems, CWI, Holst Centre and Utrecht University.
Picture: Hilde de Wolf.
