The October issue of eco’s dotmagazine explores how digital sovereignty can move from ambition to action – across AI connectivity, data centers, email identity, app privacy, DNS, and post-quantum security.

Critical PHP vulnerabilities are disrupting websites: eco Association outlines immediate measures for operators and calls for greater transparency in the software supply chain. The incident highlights how rapidly AI is intensifying the threat landscape and the importance of clearly defined responsibilities throughout the IT supply chain.

Europe must not squander its economic potential in the global AI race due to a lack of legal certainty and unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. That is why, following the EU Member States’ agreement on a common position regarding the Digital Omnibus, eco Association is calling for a clear legal framework for AI training and proportionate data protection obligations.

Ahead of the Data Center Roadshow on 26 November in Hanover, Christoph Seffner, Managing Director of Data Centres at Avacon, discusses redundancy, network connectivity and the infrastructure underpinning modern IT environments.

The new EuroCloud Pulse Check 2026 shows that AI is transforming the cloud strategies of German companies and strengthening the role of European providers. This is particularly evident in AI workloads and the growing trend towards multi-cloud environments.

A recent survey conducted by the market research institute Civey among 500 companies on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry shows that companies are already addressing this challenge in practice by setting clear boundaries and implementing safety mechanisms.

eco – Association of the Internet Industry welcomes the German federal government’s increased focus on promoting media literacy among children and young people in the key proposals adopted today. However, eco Association calls for a European solution to establish a minimum age for using social networks and sees a need for further action to support and strengthen established complaints offices.

How can digital infrastructure become more resilient? In an interview ahead of the Internet Security Days @ it-sa, Dr Jennifer Pernau from Microsoft discusses cybersecurity, secure networks and the regulatory framework needed to strengthen resilience.

On 14 October, eco brought together representatives from EU institutions, industry and the technical community in Brussels and online for “Post-Quantum Ready – Securing Encryption for Connected Mobility”, ahead of Global Encryption Day 2026.

Generative AI is transforming applications and business processes, bringing new challenges for IT security. Frank Thias of F5 explains the risks posed by AI applications, agents and interfaces, and why security must be considered from the outset.

The new application round for generic top-level domains demonstrates considerable interest in operating dedicated domain extensions. From eco’s perspective, it opens up new opportunities for innovation, competition and digital branding strategies.

On the occasion of today's public hearing of the German Bundestag's Committee on Legal Affairs on the planned retention of IP addresses, eco – Association of the Internet Industry has once again warned against a disproportionate obligation to retain data indiscriminately. The German federal government's draft legislation provides for IP addresses and other data required to identify users to be retained for a period of three months as a general rule.

For the tenth time, eco discussed with representatives from politics and industry at yesterday’s Internet Policy Forum in Berlin what conditions Germany needs to create by 2030 to strengthen its digital capacity to act.

Which threats are currently of particular concern to companies? How far has the implementation of NIS2 progressed? And what does it take for organisations to remain truly resilient in an emergency? With the IT Security Survey 2027, eco Association’s Security Competence Group once again aims to gain an up-to-date picture of the situation in practice. Take part now!

Ahead of tomorrow’s cabinet discussion on the proposed law against digital violence, eco is calling for effective protection for those affected – without overblocking or additional bureaucratic burdens for service providers. In particular, eco sees a need for further clarification regarding the interaction with the Digital Services Act, the proposed account suspension measures and the definition of new criminal offences.

Following today’s hearing of the Committee on Internal Affairs on the Act to Strengthen Cybersecurity, eco – Association of the Internet Industry continues to see a considerable need for improvements. The planned interventions in IT systems and data traffic raise fundamental questions regarding proportionality, technical feasibility and oversight under the rule of law. Among other things, public authorities are to be able to redirect or record data traffic, delete or alter data in IT systems and intervene in domain name resolution.

eco Association welcomes Prof. Dr Moritz Hennemann as he takes office as German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI), facing important reforms in data protection supervision and data law.

The September issue of eco’s dotmagazine explores how security, sovereignty, and digital control are becoming increasingly interconnected – and what meaningful control looks like in practice.

Companies are making progress in their handling of cyber incidents but remain under considerable pressure to adapt. This is shown by the eco Association’s new 2026 IT Security Survey. Just under a third of the IT decision-makers surveyed report incidents with tangible impacts over the past twelve months.

When people talk about digital sovereignty, their thoughts often turn first to cloud and software. Prof. Georg Sigl from Fraunhofer AISEC draws attention to the foundation of digital systems: hardware. In this interview, he discusses trustworthy electronics, dependencies in global semiconductor supply chains and the importance of in-house chip design expertise for Europe’s technological capacity to act.

Reliability of automated matches and evidential robustness remain unclear eco calls for fundamental revision of the draft acts  Berlin, 21 September 2026 – On the occasion of today’s hearing of the Committee on Internal Affairs on the planned digital investigative powers, eco – Association of the Internet Industry...

eco is calling for clear responsibilities, a coherent legal framework and the avoidance of duplicate regulation wherever possible. The European Commission plans to officially present its draft “EU Kids Act” tomorrow, Thursday. Initial details of the planned EU rules to strengthen the protection of children are already available.

How can DNS abuse be tackled more quickly and effectively? In this eco interview, Ashley La Bolle of Tucows discusses responsibilities within the Internet ecosystem, better abuse reporting and the potential of AI to strengthen cyber resilience.

With the expiry of the temporary derogation for voluntary chat monitoring on 3 April 2026, there is a risk of a legal gap arising in the European Union with regard to the voluntary detection of child sexual abuse material on the Internet. After the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament failed to agree on an extension of the derogation, pressure is mounting to find a swift and long-term solution for voluntary proactive measures by service providers as part of the trilogue negotiations on the CSAM Regulation.

The August cyberattack on parts of Berlin’s state administration network and the publication of the stolen data on 4 September demonstrate, in the view of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, how dangerous differing security standards for the public and private sectors can be.

A new study by IW Consult, commissioned by eco, shows that Germany’s strength as a business location stems from the combination of industry expertise, data and engineering expertise: AI-powered product innovations and new service offerings are already generating more than €120 billion in revenue.

How can connected machines be transformed into truly intelligent manufacturing? In this eco interview, Igor Mikulina, CEO and founder of MicroStep Europa and President of the Board of Trustees of the IndustryFusion Foundation, discusses open standards, edge AI and the evolution of the smart factory towards increasingly autonomous systems.

At its closed-door meeting today, the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag intends to adopt new guidelines on the use of AI in the workplace. Among other things, it plans to impose higher taxes on productivity gains from AI and on large technology companies.

Connected machines alone do not make a smart factory. Igor Mikulina, CEO of MicroStep Europa, explains the role of edge **AI**, interoperability and open standards in the intelligent manufacturing of the future.

Email security is one of the most important basic protective measures. Read about how ams OSRAM implemented SPF, DKIM and DMARC to strengthen email security, prevent spoofing and improve email deliverability.