increase awareness tailored to specific groups. The Federal Government also provides funding for specific projects to increase media literacy. The Federal Government initiatives related to cyber security and society are being expanded and updated. This also includes the public discourse on horizontal cyber policy issues using targeted formats. It is also necessary to counteract digital carelessness in businesses. Appointing IT security officers to drive the drafting and implementation of IT security measures is an effective, tried and tested way to accomplish this. To make cyber threats more visible, it is also necessary to provide the public with the latest information on the security aspects of IT products and services. For this reason, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) will expand its units dealing with public warnings and information on how to deal with IT security gaps. Creating the conditions for secure electronic communication and safe web offerings Secure and trustworthy electronic communication that cannot be manipulated is fundamental for individuals to be able to enjoy the rights related to communication, the right to privacy and the right to control one’s own image. For businesses, it constitutes important protection against cyber spying and is thus the foundation for their financial success. Easy and secure encryption ensures confidential electronic communication for all and should become standard. The Federal Government explicitly welcomes research projects and industry initiatives aimed at this goal. The consistent use of strong encryption for web offerings will further increase security on the Internet. The Federal Government will analyse the specific barriers to the use of encryption and will promote initiatives to reduce these barriers. Along with this approach, which could be called “security through encryption”, Germany is also pursuing the approach of “security despite encryption”. Users must have access to the highest level of protection for their data, values and rights. At the same time, Germany’s law enforcement and security authorities are allowed, under strict legal conditions, to decrypt or bypass encrypted communications if necessary in the individual case to carry out their duties as required by law. To keep these powers from being undermined, the technical decryption ca- 11