pabilities of the law enforcement and security authorities must keep up with technical developments in encryption. Secure electronic identities In parallel with promoting secure electronic communications, the strategies for securely identifying persons and things should be expanded. Users must have access to secure, user-friendly and modern means of authentication on the Internet. The current standard of user name/password is widespread but not secure; it should be added to or if possible replaced. Identification documents with an online ID function are central; the Federal Government already provides such documents as a highly secure way to identify oneself on the Internet without shedding lots of data. The aim is to establish the online ID function, and secure identities based on it, as a standard means of identification for sensitive services, then to further develop this function and promote equally secure solutions in the private sector. The Federal Government also advocates standardized identity management in all German public administration and is calling on makers of information and communications technology to work with Germany’s IT security industry to develop and bring to market trustworthy products and services. Strengthening certification and approval: Introducing a quality label for IT security Effective, needs-based certificates and quality labels are an important tool for disseminating cyber security standards. Certifying or approving IT security products is already an established and recognized procedure. But it only covers a small segment of the information technology in use today. For this reason, the Federal Government encourages makers of standard technology in particular to certify more of their products. It will also introduce a basic certification procedure for secure IT consumer products, with criteria to be defined by the BSI. At the same time, the BSI’s existing resources for drafting technical guidelines, certifying and supporting the national accreditation agency for IT security will be increased and the relevant processes streamlined in the interest of all involved. In the process, it will be necessary to use modern processes to overcome the challenge of rigorous but time-consuming certification and approval processes at a 12