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.

How secure are our devices when they connect to the Internet? This is difficult for consumers to discern. The IT security label of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) now provides a solution. The eco Association welcomes this initiative and at the same time appeals to manufacturers and consumers to take responsibility for IT security.

In Germany, a large proportion of the population is very dissatisfied with the slow progress of digitalisation in many fields. As much as a quarter of those surveyed said that the topic of digital policy would have a major influence on their voting decision in the next federal state elections.

With the start of the war in Ukraine, critical infrastructure, businesses, and government agencies there became targets of cyberattacks. According to estimates by the BSI and eco Association, Germany has not – yet – become a greater target of cyberattacks. “This situation assessment could change at very short notice, and targeted as well as massive cyberattacks could severely compromise cybersecurity at any time,” says Prof. Norbert Pohlmann.

On 29 and 30 September 2022, the Internet Security Days (ISD) will take place once again in Phantasialand near Cologne, Germany. eco and heise Events invite IT security experts, security managers and user companies to exchange views on current threats and security strategies at the 12th ISD.

This year, it’s not just the Covid-19 pandemic, but also the threatening climate change which will continue to drive forward digital transformation in the economy and society. “Digitalisation is part of the solution to many challenges,” says eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme.

As another Covid year draws to a close, let’s take the opportunity to review the digital policy highlights of this year! To begin with the brightest news of the year: In these Covid times, digital infrastructures, digital technologies and digital applications have kept things up and running, thereby contributing to combatting the pandemic by switching physical contacts to the virtual.

eco is sharply critical of the fact that companies may be legally obliged to make their telecommunications equipment available for the imperceptible installation of government spying software and the redirection of data.

Regarding the Log4J vulnerability, Prof. Norbert Pohlmann, Board Member for IT Security at eco, sees the threat from cyber attacks as having hit a frightening new level. The German federal government must now do everything they can to quickly shut down the existing IT vulnerabilities.  

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly, and everyday objects are more and more connected to the Internet and to other devices. It is increasingly difficult for consumers to judge which devices and services have which security features.