The German car giant that gave the world the Beetle may soon help you fend off cybercriminals.
Volkswagen teamed with insurer Allianz, medical company Bayer and chemicals producer BASF to sell information-technology security services to firms in Germany starting next year, the companies said in a statement. They plan to set up a Berlin-based venture called DCSO Deutsche Cyber-Sicherheitsorganisation GmbH, with a 25 per cent stake each. No investment value was given.
“Attacks on corporate IT systems are increasing, and it’s of interest to Germany’s economy to be prepared,” Lasse Osteneck, a spokesman for Volkswagen, said by phone. “Security is non-negotiable and that’s also true for Volkswagen. We believe the new company is closing a market gap.”
IT security is becoming more important for carmakers such as Volkswagen, with CEO Martin Winterkorn saying this week he seeks to reinvent Europe’s biggest automaker into one providing “smartphones on wheels.”
Hackers landed a Jeep Cherokee in a ditch earlier this year and sparked a recall of about 1.4 million vehicles. By 2020, about 90 per cent of new vehicles in western Europe will be connected to the Internet, compared with about one-third next year, according to Hitachi Ltd.
German companies lose about 51 billion euro (US$58 billion) a year due to cybercrime, with the car, chemicals and pharmaceutical industries most affected, according to the country’s Bitkom technology-industry association. The government is eager to improve Germany’s IT defenses as part of its “digital agenda,” which is also aimed at blanketing the country with high-speed Internet by 2018 and backing the digitalization of industry.
DCSO will cooperate with Germany’s Interior Ministry and the Federal Office for Information Security, and is open to additional partners, Osteneck said.
