The smartphone goes on, and it’s in with the SIM card: Ever since there have been mobile phones, we’ve had to deal with these little plastic cards. Not for much longer, if the eSIM gets its way. Marc Le Guin from TÜViT explains the advantages it offers and why it is only slowly winning over the doubters.

Streaming, shopping, surfing, gambling - increasing amounts of data are racing through the web every day. At the same time, however, the flood of data is also increasing the energy requirements of the data centers behind it - at the expense of the environment. Read the article to find out which innovative ideas operators are already using to make their data centers more energy-efficient and how #TÜViT expert Marc Wilkens rates them.

Quantum computers promise a computing capacity that today's computers can only dream of. This holds many opportunities, but also challenges. TÜViT expert Lucie Plaga explains in an interview what problems the quantum era poses for today's encryption methods and what lies behind post-quantum cryptography.

There’s a well-known issue with passwords: Simple passwords are easy to crack, but secure ones are hard to remember. The idea behind the FIDO project is to supplement passwords and, in the medium term, to replace them altogether. Christoph Bayer, IT security expert at TÜViT, explains how the principle works and what makes it different from and safer than previous procedures.

It has been under discussion since March, and now the German “Coronavirus Warning App" is available for download. The app is designed to help detect and break transmission chains more quickly. How does the German warning app work, what’s the story with data protection, and what experience have other countries had with similar apps? Here’s an overview.

Passwords – everyone needs them, but nobody likes them, and hardly anyone can remember them, which is why too many people still opt for 12345. But we all know that insecure passwords are an invitation to cybercriminals. Security expert Tobias Kippert from TÜViT explains what you should consider when choosing a password and where you should store your passwords.

A lot of online accounts - e-mail, online retail and digital payment services, to name but a few - are chock full of sensitive data. The idea behind two-factor authentication is to ensure that hackers can’t get into private accounts even if they have managed to get hold of the password. IT-Security expert Christoph Bayer from TÜViT explains how this security instrument works.

Video conferencing, online gaming, Netflix & Co.: these days, professional and social life has almost completely shifted to the Internet. Is the Internet capable of coping with this abrupt increase in demand? Manuel Sainz of TÜV NORD IT Secure Communications explains how the crisis is affecting things, where bottlenecks might arise and what you can do at home to ensure that the Internet functions as fluidly as possible.

Waiting in the wings is a new standard in the form of 5G that is predicted to be 20 times faster than the fastest mobile telephony network currently operating. As well as offering more efficient streaming for users, 5G is also poised to usher in the age of autonomous and networked driving. Not to mention its role in advancing the causes of the Smart City, Industry 4.0 and telemedicine.

The electricity grid of the future will need to be able to respond with flexibility to these fluctuations. To do so, it will need information about electricity generation and the consumption of individual households. Markus Bartsch from TÜViT explains the role to be played here by smart meter gateways, why their security is so crucial, and what makes them so unique internationally.

On 25 May 2018, it all changes. Because that’s when the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. As of this date, stiff penalties may be imposed for breaches of the data protection provisions. Even so, some companies haven't yet got to grips with the new directive. #explore explains what companies, website operators and users have to look forward to.

Video cameras designed to use facial recognition to identify criminals, terrorists or other individuals of concern are already in use on a trial basis at Berlin Südkreuz railway station. This project of the German Ministry of the Interior has sparked fierce controversy around the questions of the legal basis for the use of smart video surveillance and its implications for data protection.

It always used to be the case that data protection was at the bottom of the pile when it came to software development. Privacy by Design is now set to change this. Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, this principle is even going to be mandatory for companies as of 25 May 2018. Jörg Schlißke explains what's behind the concept and how it will improve data protection for users.

Fake news is now so well camouflaged that, to the untrained eye, it’s very difficult to recognise it as fabricated. But what exactly is fake news? How do false reports spread, and how can you identify them? These and other interesting questions are answered in an interview with Dirk Kretzschmar.

Software, hardware and security are subjects that have always been very closely linked. And yet, in the light of increasing networking with the Internet, they will have to dovetail even more closely in the future if protection is to be guaranteed. This is why TÜV NORD is continuing to promote the principle of "Security by Design". Markus Wagner from TÜViT explains exactly what this is all about in a short interview.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly networked world and the need for ever greater security in the field of IT, the Common Criteria (CC) are growing in importance. In a short interview, Markus Wagner from TÜViT explains what this term actually means and how IT products, components and systems are becoming safer thanks to CC.

Security policy, cyber security, data protection and privacy: these are issues close to Isabel Skierka’s heart. The young political scientist is engaged in research at the Digital Society Institute in Berlin to find ways of making the digital future more secure. TÜV NORD is supporting her project with a grant.

Cyber attacks are an increasing threat to private individuals, companies and government agencies alike – the consequences can be immense. To avoid these, TÜViT experts uncover vulnerabilities and provide security. #explore got straight to the point with Dennis Schröder.