Explore strategies for creating secure, collaborative digital environments that prioritize trust – the cornerstone of all human connections – in the May issue of dotmagazine.

The fundamental rights enshrined in the German Basic Law also apply in virtual space – in spite of the fact that the Internet did not yet exist when the Basic Law was proclaimed in 1949. However, many people feel that their civil rights are jeopardised in the virtual space. eco Association calls for a comprehensive repeal of data retention and highlights that there must be no restrictions on the encryption of electronic communication or stored data in the future.

Meet topDNS, the initiative of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry aimed at combatting online abuse, at the Nordic Domain Days. On 13 and 14 May, registries, registrars, resellers, service providers and investors from the domain industry will gather again in Stockholm.

Joining forces for Domain Trust and the protection of the Domain Name System (DNS): eco – Association of the Internet Industry and the Global Cyber Alliance inaugurate wide-ranging cooperation.

In times of phishing attacks and spam, protecting email communication is more important than ever. DMARC reports are sent to domain owners as a detailed feedback mechanism that provides valuable information on how emails are handled by the various email providers. In our legal opinion on the compatibility of DMARC with the GDPR, we provide practical tips for the legally compliant implementation of DMARC.

In a joint declaration, the European police commissioners have issued a joint statement against end-to-end encryption. This is wrong and not in the interests of European citizens, states Oliver Dehning, Leader of the eco Security Competence Group at eco Association.

The Digital Services Act adopted by the German federal cabinet on 20 December 2023 is intended to transpose the European DSA into German law and ensure trustworthy digital services in Germany. Today, the law was passed by the German Federal Council.

Satellites naturally count as critical infrastructure – however, only a small part of their ground stations are regulated by law as “critical infrastructures” (known as "KRITIS "in Germany). The eco met the DLR event in April, which shed light on the future legal implications of the NIS2 and the German KRITIS Umbrella Act and provided concrete examples of how to best prepare for attacks.

In an eco-member interview, Michael Sicklinger from Arista Networks GmbH talks about how automation can reduce cost pressures in companies while still meeting high security requirements.

How can security risks be monitored and managed more efficiently in order to meet stricter regulatory requirements such as the NIS2 Directive and the KRITIS DachG? Maurice Striek from NVISO GmbH talks about this in an eco member interview.

Recruiting suitable IT specialists is becoming increasingly difficult, and this also applies to IT security. In this interview, Carina Franke, Team Leader Recruiting at G DATA CyberDefense AG, provides tips on new approaches in personnel strategy that can be used to counter this trend.

96 per cent of security experts in Germany see a growing threat situation, more than in previous years. 4 per cent believe that the threat situation has remained unchanged, and those surveyed do not see the situation easing. These are the findings of the eco IT Security Survey 2024, which surveyed 226 security experts.

The majority of Germans still don’t back up their data to the cloud, risking the loss of valuable photos, videos and data. This is the result of a recent representative survey conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of eco Association.

How do energy suppliers, who are also telecommunications providers, shape resilient infrastructures? Experts from the eco Networks and KRITIS Competence Groups will discuss this on 16 April at the DE-CIX MeetingCenter in Frankfurt. One of the panellists of the event is Lorenz Grehlich from M-net. In this interview, he provides tips for resilient network infrastructures.

Artificial intelligence (AI) heralds the next evolutionary stage of cybersecurity. How will IT teams defend against cyberattacks in the future? The Security Competence Group of eco - Association of the Internet Industry met for an expert workshop and developed five key theses on how to deal with AI in the IT security landscape.

How is AI changing our security world? This is the question raised by the eco Security Competence Group on 21 February. Three questions for Head of the eco competence group, Oliver Dehning.

Under the motto “Let's talk about porn”, the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia organised an informative event together with Nathanael Liminski (Minister for German federal government, European affairs, international affairs and media of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia), and Andreas Weiss, Managing Director of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. The discussion focused on challenges and solutions for dealing with content harmful to young people in the digital space.

Approximately one in two Germans (49.2%) use digital services or platforms to manage their own finances. This is the result of a recent representative survey conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry.

Olaf Pursche and Oliver Dehning now jointly lead the eco Security Competence Group. Double expertise for IT security in the eco Association: Olaf Pursche, Head of Communications at the Swiss IT Security Group AG, is now leading the eco Security Competence Group together with Oliver Dehning, Specialist for Cloud Security....

One in three Germans (34.4 per cent) stores their online passwords mentally, according to an eco survey conducted on the occasion of Change Your Password Day on 1 February. The eco Association gives three tips for secure passwords.

How can vshosting GmbH, as a managed cloud provider, give German SMEs a competitive advantage? Esther Eggert, Partner Manager DACH at vshosting GmbH, talks about this in an eco member interview.

What is the security situation in the IoT? Eric Clausing, Head of IoT at AV-TEST GmbH, talks about this in a short interview on the occasion of the eco webinar “Security in the IoT – Cyber Resilience Act, what now?”

How can companies effectively protect themselves against cyberthreats? Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular are increasingly overwhelmed by the choice of suitable IT security solutions.

Only 40.8 per cent of respondents reported having a maximum of three devices connected to the Internet, with the over-65s in particular using fewer online devices than younger people. These are the findings of a recent survey conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry.

Modern fire protection contributes to sustainability, says Anne Omar, data centre expert at FOGTEC, in an eco member interview.

Since the beginning of the year, doctors have been obliged to issue e-prescriptions that can be redeemed in pharmacies using an app or the electronic health card (eGK). The majority of Germans (53.7 per cent) welcome this and say they would like to use e-prescriptions digitally in the future.

73.6 per cent of IT decision-makers see artificial intelligence (AI) as the most influential trend for business IT in 2024. eco Association gives 5 recommendations on how companies can benefit from new AI applications in 2024.

DNS resolvers themselves are not considered to be perpetrators when copyrights are infringed online via a domain, ruled the Higher Regional Court of Dresden, thereby overturning the previous judgements of the lower courts.

The resilience of IT infrastructures remains a challenge for the economy. This is shown by a recent eco survey. 75.2 per cent of IT experts in Germany see potential for improvement when it comes to arming them against cyberattacks.

Attacks on IT supply chains have been on the rise for years, according to the experts from the IT Security Competence Group of the eco Association at their meeting in November. In Cologne-Ehrenfeld, the experts developed holistic and proactive strategies to effectively protect their own IT, summarising their findings in six key points.