Critical infrastructures (KRITIS) - importance and protection

Critical infrastructures (KRITIS) are the backbone of our modern society. But what dangers threaten these essential systems? What obligations do Critical infrastructures (KRITIS) operators have and how are security standards complied with? Find out everything you need to know on this topic and stay up to date with our knowledge portal!

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Obligations for operators Presentations Articles

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Introduction to critical infrastructures

Critical infrastructures (KRITIS) are essential facilities for the community. Failures can cause supply bottlenecks and disrupt public safety. Operators must implement security measures to protect operations and increase resilience.

Critical infrastructure sectors

Natural hazards

Natural hazards such as flooding or pandemics pose serious risks to critical infrastructure (KRITIS). Flooded roads can disrupt supply chains, while overcrowded hospitals in pandemics put a strain on healthcare. Companies need to take preventative measures to manage such events and minimize the impact.

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Technological hazards

Technological hazards such as power outages or technical faults can have far-reaching consequences for Critical infrastructures (KRITIS). A widespread power outage could bring critical services to a standstill. Operators must therefore carry out risk analyses and draw up emergency plans to ensure the resilience of their systems.

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Cyber threats

Cyber threats such as hacker attacks and malware attacks are one of the biggest threats to critical infrastructure. However, faulty software updates or misconfigurations can also disrupt essential services. To prevent such incidents, operators should use modern IT security solutions and train their employees regularly.

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Critical infrastructure sectors

Critical infrastructures (KRITIS) cover a large number of essential areas of the community. The most important sectors include energy supply, water supply, food, healthcare, information and communication technology (ICT), finance and insurance, transport and traffic as well as public administration. The protection of these sectors is of central importance, as failures in one area can have a massive impact on society.

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Measures to protect critical infrastructures

Critical infrastructure protection requires preventive, operational and reactive measures. These include risk analyses, emergency plans and IT security measures to protect against cyber attacks. Redundancy concepts safeguard operations in the event of technical failures, while training and reviews of security concepts ensure that new threats can be dealt with flexibly. In order to strengthen the protection of the population, Kritis operators are subject to regulations that support the security of supply in Germany.

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Obligations for critical infrastructure operators

There are legal regulations and standards to ensure the security and resilience of critical infrastructures. The EU's NIS 2 Directive and the forthcoming national implementation law entail extended requirements for critical infrastructure operators.
Critical infrastructure operators are obliged to:

Designation of a contact point for the operated critical infrastructure
Notification of IT disruptions or significant impairments to the responsible authorities
Implementation of ‘state of the art’ IT security, adapted to the new requirements of the NIS 2 Directive
Proof of compliance with security requirements, probably at shorter intervals and with more detailed checks

With the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive, the group of affected companies will be expanded and stricter security obligations are expected.
We have a selection of articles in our library that provide information on the legal regulations.

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Exclusive presentations on the topic of KRITIS

Ransomware

Panel on the topic of ransomware as a threat to IT security and the question of how we can still defend ourselves. With Daniel Lorch, Chief Inspector of Criminal Investigation Esslingen and Stefan Strobel from Cirosec GmbH, the central contact point for cybercrime for the economy in Bavaria.

Digital first aid

IT security incidents often occur unprepared and at the wrong time. Digitally trained first responders (including IT laypersons) can provide rapid first aid in the event of incidents or offer specific recommendations for support.

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IT Security Talk: Hacking & Defense

Recording from 02/09/2025 | available on-demand

These were our topics in September:

Hacking invoices – Who is liable if payment is made to the wrong account?
Ransomware – One encryption to rule them all
AI hacking for chatbots & co. – identifying risks, strengthening security
Red vs. Blue: Decoding the APT Battlefield

To the session recording

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Articles on the topic of critical infrastructure

Critical Infrastructure: Global communication at risk - Rethinking cybersecurity

The critical infrastructure sector is facing major challenges and a broader understanding of critical infrastructure is becoming necessary: Global conflicts are threatening the communications infrastructure. Submarine cables, the central arteries of the internet, are increasingly the target of attacks. Outages can cut off entire countries from the internet. Protecting this critical infrastructure is becoming a government task and will not be possible without international cooperation.

To the article ‘Critical Infrastructure: Global communication at risk’

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