Professor becomes a member of a new expert committee for IT security

Claudia Eckert joins Council of Cyber Experts

Most Germans have heard of the "Wirtschaftsweisen", the German Council of Economic Experts, at one point or another: As expert assessors, five economists evaluate Germany's economic development every year. Following this prominent example, a cyber-security cluster in Bonn has established a committee comprised of experts in IT security, the so-called "Cyberweisen". This Council of Cyber Experts intends to publish an annual report which expounds on the state of IT security in Germany. By doing so, the experts aim to provide a framework of orientation for the economic sector and policymakers. Furthermore, the researchers also wish to react to current issues in the field of IT security.

As one of the initial six experts, Prof Claudia Eckert was accepted to the Council of Cyber Experts. She emphasizes that the committee will work independently of any company. Furthermore, she sees it as being the duty of the expert committee to ensure that important topics are on the political agenda – at the European level as well. "Large companies are already well-equipped today when it comes to cyber-security", says Claudia Eckert. "But the situation is quite a different one when it comes to small- and medium-sized companies. For example, mechanical engineering is now heavily focused on connections via the internet – and these companies are well-aware of the fact that they need to equip themselves for this challenge. However, many medium-sized enterprises do not know how to do so."

Prof Claudia Eckert

Claudia Eckert is a professor for IT security at the TUM and the head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security (AISEC). Her research focusses on the development of technologies for increasing system and application security, the security of embedded systems, and on researching new techniques for increasing the resilience and robustness of systems against attacks. She is a member of various national and international industrial advisory boards and scientific committees, and advises companies, economic associations, and public institutions on issues related to IT security.

Further information:

The Council of Cyber Experts was established by the Cyber Security Cluster Bonn. Members of the consortium include the Federal Office for Information Security, the Police of North-Rhine Westphalia, research institutions and universities, as well as numerous companies. In addition to Claudia Eckert, the other experts are Prof Matthias Hollick from TU Darmstadt, Prof Norbert Pohlmann from the Westfälische Hochschule, Prof Delphine Reinhardt from the University of Göttingen, Prof Angela Sasse from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, and Prof Matthew Smith from the University of Bonn.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Claudia Eckert
Technische Universität München<link www.sec.in.tum.de/i20/&gt;
Chair of IT Security</link>
Tel: +49 (0)89 289-18577
<link claudia.eckert@in.tum.de>e-mail</link>