IT security affects us all

Process optimization, saving time and opening up new business areas: The application sheet sounds promising, and these are just some of the reasons why many business leaders are choosing to establish AI and other technical innovations.

However, with increasing technological dynamics, more and more people are coming into contact with technologies who do not have the necessary know-how. This inevitably increases the risk of individual errors.

At the same time, the number of malware programs in circulation is increasing rapidly. The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) recently spoke of 800 million known programs. According to the authority, 390,000 attacks of these applications are currently taking place - per day.

The lone hacker has had his day

This steadily growing threat is the result of increasing professionalization in the cybercriminal scene. The target is not only well-known vulnerabilities, but often those that lie dormant in technologies with which companies have little experience, such as AI.

This makes it increasingly difficult for companies to protect themselves and their "AI colleagues" from attacks. They often don't even register attacks, or only when it's too late.

If, for example, the attackers encrypt important data and, in the worst case, even their backups after overcoming the security gates, companies are locked out of their own systems.

Start-ups and smaller companies in particular, which have neither the know-how nor the financial resources to maintain their own IT security department, are then often left with the only option of trying to buy the key back from the hacker in exchange for Bitcoins.

It is logical that doing without new technologies cannot be a solution. After all, it is precisely these innovations that form the basis of any future success.

So what to do? Companies must learn to develop appropriate protection and response capabilities. To do this, they should anchor information security as an integral part of their corporate strategy and establish risk-oriented measures in their business processes. These measures must then be managed and controlled in the long term.

For young companies, the adaptation of new methods and tools is usually relatively easy due to their still manageable complexity. Here, the usually very scarce resources are the limiting factor.

In the case of established companies, the significantly greater number of dependencies in the structures, processes and systems that have often grown over many years must be taken into account. Companies at every stage of maturity should draw on expert knowledge when setting up their security system.

It is not uncommon for errors in craftsmanship at this point to cause similar damage to the operational process as a successful attack from the outside.
IT security is also a private issue

Digital technologies are also ubiquitous in the private sphere. In the living room, we talk to Alexa. On the road, we are permanently online with our smartphones, and most new cars now roll up to our front door fully networked.

Soon, they will even be able to drive autonomously with the help of AI. This is not without risk: the more complex systems become, the greater the chance that errors and loopholes will creep in.

For a long time, German cars were considered the safest vehicles on the market. However, to continue to justify this image today and in the future, cars must be capable of more than just ensuring the physical integrity of their occupants.

In addition, they also have to protect a variety of information. For example, if the AI colleague is to take the wheel in the event of danger. Otherwise, manipulation could quickly end up being life-threatening.