"The security of cryptographic systems is based on the stupidity of us mathematicians, that is, our inability to solve certain hard math problems. The important research question therefore is: how stupid are we really?"

Benne de Weger is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research interests are computational number theory and cryptology.

Currently, cryptology and Information Security is presently his main field of interest, in particular RSA cryptanalysis, applications of hash collisions, relations to number theory, identity management, traitor tracing, lattice based cryptology. His original field of interest is number theory, in particular computational number theory, Diophantine equations, the abc-conjecture and the 3n+1-conjecture.

Benne de Weger holds MSc and PhD degrees in Mathematics from Leiden University. From 1983 to 1997, he had teaching and research positions at the universities of Leiden, Twente and Rotterdam. From 1998 to 2002 he was employed at Concord-Eracom, Amsterdam, and  CMG, Amstelveen, as cryptographic software engineer and consultant information security. Since 2002 he is assistant professor of cryptology, and since 2017 associate professor of cryptanalysis at TU/e.