Introduction In just a few short years, the digital revolution has fundamentally altered government, society and the private sector in Germany. New ways of communicating and of accessing knowledge and innovative design lead to greater social interaction, new business models and new fields for research and development. Interconnected electronic devices have a growing influence on our daily lives and work. The growth of machine-generated data and the proliferation of smart meters and sensors are creating enormous amounts of data. Machines are learning on their own how to take on increasingly complex tasks. Routines and production processes are becoming increasingly interconnected and innovation cycles are speeding up. Borderless cyberspace demands new approaches. Government has the responsibility to work with the private sector and other actors in order to assess these processes of change in the public interest, actively influence them and create the conditions for their further development. The ongoing digital revolution brings both opportunities and risks and therefore requires trust. There is no such thing as 100% security; there will always be potential for misuse. The task of government and the private sector is to lay the groundwork for such trust. Security is an important part of this effort. Individuals must be able to use the new technologies safely and autonomously, even when these technologies and the risks of using them are too complicated for ordinary people to understand fully. In this digital age, companies must be able to protect their intellectual property against unauthorized access and control their production processes even when using self-learning machines or cloud services that store their data on servers all over the world. The Federal Government’s Cyber Security Strategy for Germany that was adopted in February 2011 provided an important outline for forward-looking cyber security policy. Many of the measures proposed in that strategy have since been carried out. For example, the National Cyber Security Council is a high-level body for strategic initiatives at the interface between government and industry, while the National Cyber Response Centre serves as a platform for government agencies to share strategic and operational information. Since 2011, cyber security has become a key element of many strategic plans and interministerial projects of the Federal Government. It is 3