The Flensburg points register or the data of BAföG recipients – in the future they could be stored in a particularly secure federal cloud. The German provider Ionos is supposed to set this up.
The federal administration wants to use the German provider Ionos to set up a new cloud service. Ionos, based in Montabaur, has received a corresponding major order to build a particularly strictly secured computer cloud solution. The company announced this.
According to the tender, the company can access up to 410 million euros for the federal administration contract. Ionos belongs to the German United Internet Group, which operates, among other things, the email providers gmx and web.de.
Cloud not connected to public internet
The “private enterprise cloud”, which was certified by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), among others, is to be operated in the data centers of the Federal Information Technology Center (ITZBund). What’s special about the Ionos solution is that this platform is not connected to the public internet. This uses a concept known as “air gapping”. This is intended to make it almost impossible for outsiders to access sensitive information.
With “air gapping” the computers are separated from the networks. The data traffic for software updates is then handled using portable storage media, for example. Users in the administration access the “private cloud” via shielded and secured federal data networks.
digitalization the administration
The federal IT applications include over 1,000 specialist administrative procedures, including the points account of the Federal Motor Transport Authority in Flensburg or the calculation and payment of benefits in accordance with the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG).
The Federal Information Technology Center is a central service facility of the German federal administration that is responsible for the provision and operation of IT services. As an institution under public law, the ITZBund is intended to increase the efficiency and security of information technology within the federal administration and promote the digitalization of the administration.