August 2023: Cyberwehr – One-stop shop for SMEs in the fight against cybercrime
The “go-cluster” member CyberForum e. V., under the leadership of the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, supports small and medium-sized enterprises in combating cybercrime with the “Cyberwehr” project. Via a telephone hotline, SMEs throughout Baden-Wuerttemberg receive free initial advice on assessing an IT security incident and further support from cybersecurity experts in the event of an actual attack. The “Cyberwehr” project, which is unique in Germany, was chosen as ClusterERFOLG of the Year 2023 at this year’s “go-cluster” annual conference.
© Cyberwehr for Cyberwehr_getmeout
With increasing digitisation, the threat of cyberattacks is rising. Not only administration and critical infrastructures are affected, but also the economy in particular. According to a recent study by the digital association Bitkom, seven out of ten industrial companies nationwide were affected by sabotage, data theft and espionage in 2018. Survey data show that the quality and scope of cyberattacks will increase.
The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency) already estimates the resulting damage at 43 billion euros per year. While some large companies are already relying on AI or machine learning to protect themselves against cyber threats, SMEs often lack the human and financial resources to deal with this challenge.
SMEs need support in the fight against cybercrime
This challenge is being met by the Cyberwehr in Baden-Wuerttemberg, which was launched as a pilot project by a consortium consisting of the member cluster CyberForum e. V., FZI Research Center for Information Technology, DIZ | Digitales Innovationszentrum, and Secorvo Security Consulting GmbH and has since been implemented in cooperation with the police and the domestic intelligence service. As a contact and consulting point for small and medium-sized enterprises and as a coordination point in the event of hacker attacks, Cyberwehr networks with security authorities, industry and science. The Cyberwehr hotline serves as the first point of contact and uniform emergency number in the event of a cyberattack. Cyberwehr is available 7 days a week and 24 hours a day at 0800-CYBERWEHR or 0800-292379347. If a critical IT security incident is reported, Cyberwehr conducts an initial incident diagnosis with the company in a free phone call.
Subsequently, at the request of the affected company, Cyberwehr provides experts who help the affected company to limit the damage caused and to initiate initial emergency measures. These are offered to the affected companies at predefined prices. The emergency measures follow a standardised procedure that was developed together with IT security experts.
 David Herrmanns, CEO CyberForum e.V.
"Cyberattacks are now one of the greatest threats to the economy. In the future, we will therefore continue to work exclusively with security experts from the immediate vicinity of their deployment sites, because ultimately Cyberwehr is intended to support and promote the entire Baden-Wuerttemberg IT landscape."
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A functioning cyber defence network with a role model function
After the pilot phase, the aim of the project was to establish nationwide infrastructures for first aid in the event of an IT security incident. The decentralised nature of Cyberwehr plays a crucial role here, as the Cyberwehr should be able to be on site quickly in an emergency. Since new questions about IT security are constantly arising in light of dynamic developments, constant close cooperation between security companies and research institutions is central to being able to respond to cyberattacks as efficiently as possible.
Clusters can play an important role in strengthening their members in the field of cyber security by raising their members' awareness of cyber threats, providing information, pooling know-how in the network and ultimately enabling knowledge transfer. The establishment of a functioning cyber defence network also benefits Baden-Wuerttemberg as a business location, where small and medium-sized enterprises account for 60% of jobs. The state government therefore also supports the IT Security CyberLab accelerator program at CyberForum.
