The damage caused by cyber attacks on German companies is increasing at an alarming rate. While it was still 103 billion euros per year in 2018/2019, the German economy already had to accept 223 billion in damage from digital attacks in 2020/21. This is the result of a representative study by the digital association Bitkom, for which more than 1,000 companies across all industries were surveyed.
According to the study, ransomware attacks are particularly frequent and dangerous. The criminals now not only threaten to destroy the affected data if the victim does not pay. Rather, it is also popular to publish the data if the ransom is refused – for many companies, this is an even bigger nightmare than data loss. In addition to ransomware, other forms of cybercrime are booming, including cyber espionage and data theft.
The Bitkom study makes it clear once again that every company should encrypt important files and e-mails. Because as soon as information is reliably encrypted, it becomes virtually worthless to cyber spies and data thieves. The ransomware threat to publish the stolen data if the ransom is not paid also comes to nothing if the data is encrypted.
The frightening increase in cyber attacks is one more reason to choose cryptovision’s GreenShield software. GreenShield offers both email and file encryption at the highest level. The product can look back on a 15-year development history, during which cryptovision has always placed great emphasis on user-friendliness. The two formats S/MIME and PGP are equally supported. GreenShield is therefore extremely easy and intuitive to use. Furthermore, GreenShield is one of the very few encryption solutions that have been approved by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for data of the security level “Classified Information – For Official Use Only” (VS-NfD). This approval proves that the product meets the highest security requirements. NATO also lists GreenShield File and GreenShield Mail on its website.
It is not only the Bitkom study that shows that IT security measures are becoming increasingly important. A look at the GreenShield website is therefore worthwhile.
cryptovision has concluded a framework agreement with the procurement office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). Through this agreement, authorities and federal institutions can purchase the cryptovision software GreenShield in the future via the Kaufhaus des Bundes (KdB) – directly and uncomplicatedly .
Founded in 2003, the Kaufhaus des Bundes is the online ordering platform for German authorities and federal institutions. cryptovision’s GreenShield will be available there under contract number 21230. The offer also includes accompanying services for the implementation, operation and support of the software.
GreenShield protects e-mails and files in a user-friendly way against manipulation and uninvited readers. State-of-the-art cryptography is used for this purpose. For e-mails, GreenShield offers end-to-end security. As a plug-in for Outlook and Notes, GreenShield integrates seamlessly into the respective e-mail program as an additional security layer. Users can sign and encrypt in their familiar environment with just a few intuitive mouse clicks. In addition, there are numerous convenience features that make life easier for users and administrators.
GreenShield is one of the few solutions of its kind to be approved by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for processing classified information with classification level “Verschlusssache – Nur für den Dienstgebrauch” (VS-NfD).
Markus Hoffmeister, managing director of cryptovision, is pleased about the conclusion of the contract: “Protected e-mail communication of authorities and companies is subject to special legal requirements. We have therefore developed a highly secure end-to-end solution for e-mails which, thanks to the BSI approval, allows authorities and companies to comply with the requirements up to VS-NfD and at the same time offers users considerably more convenience than conventional solutions,” says Hoffmeister. “We are very pleased that we were able to convince the BMI procurement office with GreenShield.”
Cryptovision has many years of experience in developing user-friendly security solutions for public authorities and companies. In cooperation with certification and IT security authorities, numerous products have already been created that are approved for processing information up to the classification levels VS-NfD, NATO- and EU-restricted.
cryptovision’s solutions are widely used in public administration, in the military and in the classified economy. In addition, they are used by organizations that rely on high security standards when processing their data. These include banks, insurance companies, industrial enterprises and operators of critical infrastructures (KRITIS).
Do you know lattice-based cryptographic methods? Or multivariate signatures? If not, then you should look into them, because these and a few other methods are currently on the rise. They belong to the so-called “post-quantum cryptography”. This term covers those crypto methods that protect against the great sword of Damocles that currently threatens cryptology: quantum computers.
A quantum computer uses the effects of quantum physics and thus functions completely differently than a conventional computer. A mature quantum computer could decrypt almost all asymmetric crypto methods currently in use with little effort. Fortunately, the devices of this type available so far are still far from being practically usable. But technological development is advancing, and in just a few years, powerful quantum computers could become a reality, rendering large portions of crypto implementations in use around the world useless overnight. To pre-empt such a digital apocalypse, one should already start working on those crypto methods that cannot be cracked with quantum computers – i.e., post-quantum cryptography.
Unfortunately, the various post-quantum methods are mathematically extremely demanding and thus not easy to understand. cryptovision has therefore made it its business for years to explain the subject in a clear way. In articles and lectures, the company’s employees present their audience with easy-to-understand descriptions of the most important post-quantum methods – based on vivid analogies and illustrated with comic drawings. Among others, the RSA conference in San Francisco and the 44CON hacker conference in London included such a lecture in their program.
Now cryptovision has taken another step in this direction: As of today, a whitepaper on post-quantum cryptography is available for download on the company’s web site. It explains the general post-quantum basics as well as the most important algorithms – including lattice-based crypto methods and multivariate signatures.
Post-quantum cryptography is undoubtedly a challenging topic. With cryptovision’s new whitepaper you will find a good introduction.
Paris, France and Munich, Germany – April 20, 2021 – Atos today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire cv cryptovision GmbH, a leader in state-of-the-art cryptographic products and solutions for securing digital identities. This acquisition will strengthen Atos’ cybersecurity product lines and boost the company’s business in the public sector and defense market in Europe.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, cryptovision designs, develops and implements cryptography software, security solutions and hardware products. Its unique solutions are made in Germany, certified by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and accredited by the NATO. The company has a proven track-record of successfully addressing organizations’ digital security challenges, in particular those in the public and defense sectors, as well as other sectors with highly demanding regulations and security standards.
The combination of the two companies will enable numerous synergies in their go-to-market approach. Atos will benefit from cryptovision’s strong network of resellers and global technology partnerships in the e-ID markets. cryptovision will benefit from Atos’ trusted relationship with European government customers and the Group’s ability to deliver end-to-end integrated solutions on national and international scale.
“We are delighted to welcome cryptovision to the Atos family and to work together to develop even more effective security solutionsthat meet growing cybersecurity and privacy needs. cryptovision products complete the existing Atos cybersecurity products portfolio so we will be able to address new projects and customers, both in the German market and internationally. This strategic move further expands Atos’ strategy to strengthen its cybersecurity presence, capabilities and portfolio worldwide.”says Pierre Barnabé, Senior Executive Vice President, Global Head of Big Data & Security at Atos.
“With the now agreed affiliation with Atos, cryptovision benefits in many ways – in particular through the global presence and comprehensive cyber security expertise of an international group. At the same time, cryptovision will be able to expand its technological depth of value creation for its customers,” says Markus Hoffmeister, Founder and CEO of cryptovision.
The transaction is expected to close by end of Q3 2021 and is subject to the approval of the local governance and regulatory bodies of both parties.
About Atos
Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 105,000 employees and annual revenue of over € 11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 71 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos operates under the brands Atos and Atos|Syntel. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.
The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space. www.atos.net
Stefan Pieper, Tel.: +49 178 4686875, E-Mail: stefan.pieper@atos.net
About cryptovision
cv cryptovision GmbH is one of the leading specialists for modern, user-friendly cryptography and secure electronic identities. With its solutions, over 250 million people world-wide and a multitude of institutions in the digital world protect themselves against hacker attacks, manipulation, misuse of identities and espionage. cryptovision addresses various industries such as public administration, health, auto-motive, finance & insurance, energy or IT. Its customers include countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Ecuador, institutions such as the German Armed Forces, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the city of New York and companies such as E.ON, VW and Allianz
Handling VS-NfD classified information becomes much more convenient if you can encrypt it as a file or send it securely by e-mail. However, government agencies and companies may only use products with government VS-NfD approval for this purpose. GreenShield from cryptovision is one of the few solutions that has already met this requirement for several years.
The GreenShield offering consists of GreenShield Mail (end-to-end email encryption) and GreenShield File (file encryption). GreenShield first received approval for the processing and transmission of VS- NfD (as well as EU and NATO restricted) classified information back in December 2018, and in March of this year, the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has now also approved the current version with numerous updates.
Password-based, symmetric file encryption
One application widely used by public authorities and companies is file encryption: until now, the file encryption program Chiasmus has been used to encrypt and pass on VS-NfD-rated information. However, the approval of this software expires at the end of 2021 and will not be renewed. GreenShield is ideally suited to replace Chiasmus. In addition to asymmetric encryption and decryption using key pairs (consisting of a public and a private key), the current GreenShield version also supports symmetric encryption for file encryption. In this variant, the sender and receiver do not exchange public keys, but agree on a password.
Virtual Desktop support
GreenShield scores not only with high usability, but also with support for various smart cards. In the current version, the approval of GreenShield has also been extended to server systems and thus also supports Virtual Desktop infrastructures. Integration into various existing VS infrastructures is thus also possible for centralized systems.
HCL Notes® 11
GreenShield Mail is the only VS-NfD approved email encryption solution for HCL Notes® on the German market. The current version supports HCL Notes ®11 in addition to the aging Notes 8 and 9 client. Last but not least, the solution’s multi-client capability is unique: it supports both Microsoft Outlook and HCL Notes on the same device. Thus, only GreenShield Mail enables a smooth migration from Notes to Outlook.
Once again, a security incident has the IT world in a tizzy. This time it is several security holes in the widely used mail server Microsoft Exchange that have triggered the disaster. In Germany alone, at least 10,000 Exchange servers were initially affected. Through the aforementioned security holes, an attacker can gain administrator rights on an Exchange server, which gives him access to all emails processed there. According to press reports, a hacker group from China known as Hafnium is said to have used these vulnerabilities for numerous attacks worldwide. It is not yet clear what damage they caused. Meanwhile, Microsoft has provided security updates that are supposed to fix the problem.
In the meantime, it has become known that hafnium has also attacked at least three federal authorities. However, with reference to the welfare of the state, the federal government is still keeping under wraps which institutions these are and what exactly happened. The choice of words alone, however, suggests a serious threat. After all, the term “welfare of the state” has already been used by the Federal Constitutional Court, which ruled in 2009 that this term was linked to “existential security and secret protection concerns” as well as “information requiring secrecy”.
Regardless of this, the Exchange hack and the Hafnium attacks show once again: it is becoming more and more important to reliably protect emails from unauthorised access. Even if the operator of a mail server does everything right, a security gap in the software used can throw a spanner in the works. For confidential data, email encryption is therefore a must. However, an encryption gateway connected to the server, as is used in many places, is often not sufficient. Because if – as in this case – the attacker has access to the mail server, gateway protection is as good as useless. Instead, end-to-end encryption is necessary, which takes place on the client.
A proven client-based email encryption solution that provides end-to-end security is GreenShield from cryptovision. GreenShield is particularly suitable for public authorities that process VS-NfD data. As one of the few email encryption products on the market, GreenShield has the VS-NfD approval required for this purpose.
When it comes to secure email communication in the public authority environment, you are definitely on the safe side with GreenShield.
More than 60 companies have joined cryptovision’s exclusive partner program, club cv, as Members since its launch in June 2020. Covering business areas such as IT Security, Government Identity and IoT, cryptovision’s partner network has completely embraced the concept behind club cv. Now, the next level of engagement is open for business: club cv has officially launched its Partner Levels. These apply to both Volume and Strategy Partners and are available in different tiers.
Partner level companies are our valued resellers, independent soft- and hardware vendors, certified service providers and technology partners, who integrate our products into their solution and vice versa. For current Member level companies, this means that they can get upgraded to Partner Level if the conditions apply.
Also new in January 2021 is the online club cv partner lounge: A protected area for partner to find useful information on upcoming activities, relevant sales forms and contact information. The club cv lounge will be the main platform to find partner-relevant information for both, club cv members and partners. For more information, please visit the club cv website.
Just in time for the turn of the year, cv act sc/interface, cryptovision’s proven smartcard middleware, not only got a new name. SCinterface also convinces with new features: The graphical user interface has been fundamentally optimized and the ease of use has been improved throughout thanks to a uniform, more modern design. With the new version 8.0, cryptovision has further expanded the capabilities of SCinterface in response to current market developments. SCinterface customers can now use the full range of middleware use cases with the latest card operating systems NXP JCOP4, Infineon SECORA™ and ATOS CardOS 5.4 & 5.5. With SCinterface 8.0, the current D-TRUST signature and seal cards for qualified signatures can also be used throughout Europe in compliance with eIDAS. Also new in version 8.0 is support for macOS 11 Big Sur, which has only been available since November 2020. This enables a secure and flexible design of BYOD and enterprise IT concepts.
With SCinterface 8.0, two-factor authentication is easily implemented to connect from the home workstation to the corporate network via a virtual private network (VPN) or to use a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). SCinterface 8.0 works unrivaled with all major smart cards on Windows, Linux and macOS.
About SCinterface
SCinterface middleware integrates smartcards and other security tokens as well as virtual and remote credentials into IT environments. SCinterface acts across platforms and supports more than 100 different smartcards, security tokens and profiles on all major operating systems. There are many useful features including biometrics, highly customizable PIN caching for different security levels, Microsoft Virtual Smart Card and remote token support.
SCinterface is used by numerous customers worldwide in a variety of industries. These include German companies Allianz, Signal Iduna and E.ON, Dutch KPN and SwissSign, among others.
The events that have taken place during 2020 seem to have put us all at great distance. The pandemic has shrouded the world in a fog of fears of death and illness. But it’s not just the disease itself, which causes hardship to people: coronavirus mitigation measures taken by rich countries to protect themselves, directly affect those less fortunate all over the world. Instead of isolating and turning inward to focus on our own challenges, let us take up the true spirit of the holiday season by being compassionate and let us cultivate a more balanced sense of responsibility for others and ourselves.
At this year’s SDW Virtual, cryptovision presents its ePasslet Suite V3 on SECORA™ ID X, the new Java Card™ platform from Infineon. With the help of ePasslet Suite, users of SECORA™ ID X will be able to put numerous eID functions into practice easily and flexibly. A presentation will be displayed in the SDW Virtual “Technology Showcase” section.
Cryptovision’s ePasslet Suite on SECORA™ ID X provides applets for various eID document applications, including electronic passports, eIDAS-compliant ID and signature cards, international electronic driver’s licenses, electronic health cards (eHIC), custom national eID cards and more. ePasslet Suite V3 also supports ICAO LDS 2.0, an extension of electronic passports with electronic visas and entry and exit stamps.
In addition, ePasslet Suite on SECORA™ ID X can be freely customized through various configuration options. It can evolve to support new use cases and applications while retaining Common Criteria (CC) certification, thereby enabling multi-application cards and documents.
“We are delighted to have reached a further milestone on our path to offer modular, standard-based eID solutions on all major chip platforms. Government customers across the world will benefit from this broadened portfolio,” states cryptovision’s CEO Markus Hoffmeister.
ePasslet Suite on SECORA™ ID X is being certified according to Common Criteria (CC) EAL 5+. It is available in three editions, offering cost-efficient configurations for standard as well as high-end and customized ID document solutions. Samples of the solution are now available on request.
With Infineon’s SECORA™ ID X as additional platform for ePasslet Suite, cryptovision extends its offering for international eID customers: Infineon’s expertise is based on more than 200 government ID projects that cover more than 75 percent of the world’s population.
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