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Author(s):
Martin Schallbruch Isabel Skierka
Secondary Title
Springer International Publishing
Abstract

This chapter traces the evolution of German cybersecurity strategy throughout the past two and a half decades. During this period, the German approach to cybersecurity strategy has developed from a civilian preventive one to a more comprehensive one, which today includes strategic military aspects. In following, this chapter illustrates the development of cybersecurity strategy in three phases. The first phase (1991 to 2011) marks the emergence of cybersecurity as a strategic issue in the context of critical information infrastructure protection. In the second phase (2011 to 2016), the government consolidated existing policies after adopting its first national cybersecurity strategy in 2011. The Snowden revelations in 2013 lifted cybersecurity sharply up the political agenda. In the third phase, from 2016 to early 2018, Germany adopted its second national cybersecurity strategy that outlines a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity, as well as a national defence strategy, which for the first time emphasised the strategic military dimension of cybersecurity within a hybrid warfare context.

Concluding remarks
In 2017 and 2018, intensified discussions about the offensive aspects of government hacking indicated a further turn in toward a more expansive cybersecurity policy.

Reference details

DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-90014-8_3
Resource type
Miscellaneous
Year of Publication
2018
ISSN Number
2193-973X
Publication Area
Civilian cybersecurity
Date Published
2018

How to cite this reference:

Schallbruch, M., & Skierka, I. (2018). The Evolution of German Cybersecurity Strategy. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90014-8_3 (Original work published 2018)