Germany’s Cybersecurity Architecture

Disclaimer: The following text and the embedded visualization are based on the 9th edition from September 2022. The 10th edition from May 2023 as well as an updated interactive visualization are accessible in German only here. An English translation and updated English visualization will follow again in autumn 2023 with the 11th edition.

Cybersecurity has become a central component of German domestic and foreign policy as well as security and defense policy. In the process, a dense network of actors with numerous interconnections at the national and international level has emerged over time. As part of our work on cybersecurity policy, we continuously map this complex ecosystem and seek to make it easier to understand. We are convinced that a comprehensive overview of the actor landscape is an important prerequisite for a smart, structured, and sustainable cybersecurity policy. 

For this reason, we issue our publication “Germany’s Cybersecurity Architecture” twice a year, also including an interactive visualization. It is aimed at both experts working cybersecurity and the interested public. Once a year, it is also published in English translation.

Our publication “Germany’s Cybersecurity Architecture” not only provides information on relevant actors at the local, state, federal state, and international levels, but also includes a respective categorization and explains how they relate to each other. Tables at the beginning of each level chapter also provide an overview of relevant policy and legal documents (e.g. legislation, strategies, or conventions) in the field of cyber and IT security. 

A country’s cybersecurity architecture is understood to include all actors – government agencies, platforms, organizations, etc. – that are part of the national and international ecosystem according to the national definition of cybersecurity. In this publication, only governmental and directly related actors are listed. 

Until then, additions to or corrections to the current version will be published in a kind of “bug tracker” at the bottom of this page. 

Below, the visualization can also be accessed in an interactive format created by Anna Semenova and Pegah Maham (Data Science Unit of SNV).

A short guide on its usage and features can be found here.