The fact is that the security of modern digital infrastructures is no longer determined by individual system components, but by the interaction of highly networked, dynamic and adaptive systems. Government institutions, armed forces and critical infrastructures are increasingly operating in system landscapes whose complexity overwhelms traditional security approaches. Attacks exploit not only technical vulnerabilities, but also systemic dependencies, emergent effects and unforeseen interactions. Cybersecurity must therefore be rethought: as the ability to understand complex systems holistically, analyze them with foresight and protect them adaptively.
Our topics in this focus area
The cyber security of the federal administration, the armed forces, civil defence and other organizations with security tasks requires new ways of thinking and system approaches. Cyber systems and networks of these institutions are to be further developed through disruptive research in the areas of cyber transcendence – as the ability for independent functional development – and cyber symbiosis – as cooperative interaction with other systems and actors – so that they can act not only vigilantly, but also context-sensitively and proactively. The aim is to generate cooperative system behaviour independently and to proactively identify and neutralize threats.
The effective management of complex (crisis and operational) situations requires in-depth situational awareness. However, enabling precise situational awareness through the intelligent combination and synthesizing interpretation of data from various sources, e.g. real-time sensor data with OSINT data and expert knowledge, requires further research. Innovative approaches must be used to develop systems that combine data-based predictions with professional intuition in order to support informed, situation-appropriate decisions and reliable forecasts of future developments.
Critical infrastructures are the backbone of a state and its society. In Germany, this includes basic services such as electricity, water and food supplies as well as sectors such as media and culture. A failure of these infrastructures ranges from short-term disruptions to existential threats to the German state system. Due to the constantly growing number of critical infrastructures, the primary aim is to research holistic solutions in order to guarantee adaptability to different sectors. Research will be conducted into how the complexity of critical infrastructures can be represented. Furthermore, dependencies within and between infrastructures are to be mapped. The aim is also to develop technical measures to protect systems from complexity-related attacks.
With the increasing spread of unmanned, semi-autonomous and highly automated systems, the demands on their cyber security are also growing. The focus here is on reliable and protected communication in heterogeneous networks and swarms, robust adaptability to demanding operating environments such as crisis or disaster areas and consistent protection against manipulation, unauthorized access and unauthorized data leakage.
