Founded in 1989, it is a German and international competence network for IT security, with the purpose of increasing trust in information technology and communication.
[2] The initiative for an organisation for IT security dates back to the mid-1980s, when Eckart Raubold, then director of the Gesellschaft für Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung (GMD) in Darmstadt, proposed an association for the standardisation of chip cards, and trust centres for IT communications, especially payment systema.
Members included the GMD, mbp [de], DATEV, SCS, KryptoKom (Norbert Pohlmann), TELES, Siemens and ORGA.
[3] A press release describes the purpose as "Promotion of reliable telecommucation technology in the economy, society and government at national and international level" ("Förderung verläßlicher Tele-Informationstechnik in Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Staat auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene", with a focus on avoiding abuse of electronics data, developing an electronic signature, and participating in norms.
[6] Norbert Pohlmann, a founding member and teaching at the Institut für Internet-Sicherheit of the Westfälische Hochschule [de] , has been chairman of the board since 1989.