Snowden's Wake: German Firms Scramble to Boost Data Protection

[xchrom]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/companies-in-germany-scramble-to-strengthen-data-protection-abilities-a-914922.html


After the revelations of large-scale data mining by the United States, German managers have become even more nervous about data security and are scrambling to rapidly bolster security measures. Here, Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), speaks at a convention for IT security professionals in Las Vegas.

Building No. 14 of SAP's service center in St. Leon-Rot seems as secure as Fort Knox. But, in the end, it isn't the exterior walls of meter-thick reinforced concrete that give off this impression. Nor is it the security cameras or the high-tech steel gate. In fact, the latter wasn't even working a few weeks ago, as can be seen from the handwritten note taped to it, saying: "Gate broken. Please open manually."

What really makes this building in southwestern Germany secure is a state-of-the-art fingerprint verification system. The computer center is filled with servers containing data on this German software giant and thousands of other companies, together making up a giant library of secret company information spanning much of Europe. To get into it, visitors must pass through five security control points, each equipped with its own fingerprint scanner. Only authorized fingers are given access, and only when they are still attached to living individuals. No one gets into the building with severed fingers.

In other words, it would be wrong to say that efforts aren't made to protect business secrets in Germany. On the contrary, the precautionary measures taken by German companies sometimes read like a chapter from a John Grisham novel -- or, in some cases, like pages from a medical textbook on paranoia.

When BMW managers fly to other countries, they leave their company-issued mobile phones at home in Munich. In their place, they are given disposable phones to be discarded upon return.

[cantbeserious]

1. There Will Be A Significant Rise In Individual Security Services As Well

eom

[marmar]

2. k/r

[ladjf]

3. The evolution of data security is happening as one might have expected. And, since foreign

entities are not regulated by our security restrictions, their methods are likely to be very effective. Americans, on the other hand,are "sitting ducks" to the data snoopers.