Five years after the General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) came into force on 25 May, most consumers in Germany are making a conscious decision to protect their personal data on the Internet. This is shown by a representative Civey survey commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry.

Many companies underestimate the threat posed by cyber attacks, even though experts believe that the threat is growing – this was the result of the eco IT Security Survey 2023. eco IT Security Survey 2023. As a result, cybersecurity should be a top priority in all companies.

The importance of IT security has never been higher, says SySS founder and Managing Director Sebastian Schreiber. In an eco member interview, he talks about how companies can protect themselves from dangerous ransomware attacks.

The current cybersecurity situation in Germany remains tense, according to the prevailing opinion of IT experts. 93 per cent rate the general threat situation as high or very high, while only about 7 per cent of those participating in the current IT Security Survey by eco – Association of the Internet Industry assume that the threat situation will remain unchanged.

In order to increase the security of software supply chains, a wave of regulation will roll in on the German economy. In an interview, Attorney-at-law Stefan Hessel, Head of Digital Business at Reusch Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, talks about the legal implications for SMEs.

36.6 per cent of Germans back up their most important private data less often than once a year or never. This is according to a survey conducted on World Backup Day on 31 March, the international day of data backup.

Under the motto “Backup to the Future”, the eco Association invites you to the Internet Security Days (ISD) at Phantasialand near Cologne on 20 and 21 September 2023.

The threat situation is growing, say 93 per cent of the IT experts surveyed. 84 per cent of IT security experts believe that the war of aggression against Ukraine has exacerbated the threat situation. These are the results of the eco IT Security Survey 2023. Since 2010, the eco Association has been surveying the mood of the Internet industry about IT security and recently interviewed more than 100 experts from the IT security industry.

Claudia Plattner is to become the new president of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Norbert Pohlmann, eco Board Member for IT Security, congratulates.

When it comes to their online passwords, many people prefer continuity: In a representative Civey survey in Germany commissioned by the eco Association, 37.6 percent say they change their passwords less frequently than once a year.

The directive “for a high common level of cyber security” appeared in the EU Official Journal at the end of December and will enter into force on 16 January 2023. Numerous companies, state-owned enterprises and public authorities will have to comply with new requirements in the area of cyber security. eco Board Member Klaus Landefeld comments.

The eco topDNS Initiative has published an Abuse Table to provide guidance on which cyber threats are considered to abuse the Domain Name System – and which do not.

In early October 2022, US President Biden signed the Executive Order for the planned US-EU Data Privacy Framework. Dr Jens Eckhardt, specialist attorney for IT law at Derra, Meyer & Partner in Dusseldorf and Board member of EuroCloud Deutschland, answers three questions on what this means for future data transfers to the US. 

eco Association invites you to attend it-sa in Nuremberg from 25 to 27 October. At this event, the Ransomware Initiative of eco and its partners will be presented, while eco members and guests will discuss “Secure Software (Development)” on 26 October at the trade fair.

eco Association has been surveying Germany’s IT security experts for over ten years. Along with the important IT security topics and most serious threats, these surveys also assess how resilient German companies are against cyber attacks. The IT Security Survey 2023 has now been launched.  

IT security for an intensified threat situation: With around 500 participants over two days, the 12th Internet Security Days (ISDs) at Phantasialand Brühl were a huge success.

During the war in Ukraine, the cyber threat situation has intensified. According to the BSI, ransomware is becoming the biggest IT security threat. Sophos, Microsoft and Rhode & Schwarz have joined forces to form the Ransomware Initiative under the umbrella of eco and recommend 10 technical and organisational precautions.

The European Commission has presented the proposal for the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) regulation. Prof. Norbert Pohlmann, eco Board Member for IT Security, believes it is understandable that the EU wants to make digital systems even more secure and resilient in the future. However, he does not see an automatic improvement in security in the planned rules.

Employees are the most important link in the security chain in the fight against cybercrime, says Marcus Beyer from Swisscom. He presents the contents of his talk at the Internet Security Days (ISD) presentation in a short interview. The eco Association invites you to attend this IT security conference on 29-30 September 2022 at Phantasialand Brühl, Germany.

Cybercriminals are increasingly well organised, and the risk and consequences of a cybersecurity incident are underestimated by many, explains Chris Lichtenthäler, Senior Manager at auditing firm Deloitte, in an interview: You talk about “Crime as a Service” - how well organised are cybercriminals? That depends...

Minimise the virtual attack surface and strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty. Gregor Peter, Technical Solution Engineer at Myra Security GmbH talks about how this can be achieved in an interview.

eco Board Prof. Norbert Pohlmann: “Avoid national unilateralism. User-friendliness and open standards should be at the heart of promoting acceptance of digital identities and open competition.” 

The human factor plays a central role in IT security, says Vivien Schiller from adesso SE in a short interview. She will also speak on this topic at the ISDs on 30 September at Phantasialand Brühl.

In the combination of cybersecurity and conventional property protection, many companies miss out on vulnerabilities. Lukas Grunwald from DN-Systems explains how cybercriminals exploit these vulnerabilities, both in his contribution at ISD 2022 and in this short interview.

Holiday time is burglary time, a Smart Home offers appropriate security systems. However, vulnerabilities in Smart Home solutions are also becoming increasingly apparent. Jan Wendenburg, CEO, ONEKEY, explains in an interview how to secure your Smart Home solutions and the integrated connected IoT devices.

Many SMEs put their own cybersecurity at risk with their lack of knowledge, which leads to more successful ransomware attacks. Unfortunately, IT security will probably have to be reinforced in the future by companies, says Gökhan Kurtbay in an interview with eco.

The use of digital identities is growing by around 20 to 30 per cent annually. A joint study by eco and techconsult shows potentials and obstacles in the use of digital identities.

According to the eco survey, 81.6 per cent of all parents surveyed restrict the circle of recipients when they share photos via messenger services. Only 8.8 per cent use smileys to cover their child’s face.

More and more services are shifting from the analogue to the digital world. In order for users to be able to use online services with confidence, regardless of whether they are provided by public or private providers, a secure and Europe-wide standardised solution for authentication is needed,

On 29 and 30 September 2022, the Internet Security Days (ISDs) will return to Phantasialand near Cologne. Participants can expect four main topics over two days with approximately 40 exciting presentations. Keynotes will be delivered by Arne Schönbohm and Felix Lindner, among others.