3 Preparedness: Responding effectively to IT security incidents Information infrastructure disruptions require fast and effective responses. In addition to collecting and analysing information, this includes alerting those affected and taking action to reduce the damage. To this effect, the Federal Government is developing a national IT crisis response centre. Goal 8: Identifying, registering and evaluating incidents The IT crisis response centre at the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which is currently being put in place, will play the role of a national command, control and analysis centre that will be able to provide a reliable assessment of the current IT security situation in Germany at any time and that will cooperate with existing control and crisis centres in a given incident. To enable the BSI to fulfil this function, a network of sensors will be put in place to detect IT security incidents. Additional sources supplying information on IT incidents will be made available to the BSI by extending the international watch and warning network, of which the Federal Government was a founding member. All these measures will ensure that those in charge in the public and the private business sectors have the information necessary to quickly decide what action must and can be taken. Page 13