Metaphorically speaking, the hardware is just the calculating machine with a keyboard; it is the software that writes its novel on it. Software' is a collective term for 'programs' or 'algorithms' that tell the machine what to do and how to do it.

The software then turns a computer into the customized work tool that has become an indispensable part of our lives. A scientific definition describes software as "the entirety of information that must be added to the hardware so that the resulting computer system can be used for a defined range of tasks".

Incidentally, the ISO standard defines software not only as the program, but also the documentation of all its functions. This is where the boundary between hardware and software begins to blur again.

If you use Google, you also get visitors: a web crawler - also known as a 'Google bot' - visits your server and notes the latest changes to the homepage or other World Wide Web content. However, Google cannot register what happens outside the www area. This is where the realm of the 'dark net' begins.

The interest of every commercial IP address on the Internet, or even one that is only interested in 'perception', is to be 'listed' as high up as possible on Google, in the so-called 'page ranking'. Almost only links on Google's first page - as many experiments have shown - are followed by users.

This is how the net discipline of 'Search Engine Optimization' (SEO) came about. As nobody knows the code of Google's web crawler, experts try to deduce the preferences of the Google bot from changes in the listing. This has allowed a lively scene of marketers to form around SEO. This is because Google's first results page only ever offers space for a few premium positions.

There is now a consensus in SEO on the following points: 1. Google's web crawler reacts primarily to changes. A page that lies fallow for weeks will drop in the rankings, which is why it needs to be constantly updated. 2. the search and key words ('keywords'), which should lead the interested party to the target, always have a special impact if they also appear in headings and in the web address (URL). 3. all links in the offer act like catapults. Every text should branch out into the web and not just refer to its own pond. 4. backlinks accelerate the ascent again, which is why an (edited) comment function should be set up, as well as 'backlinks' should be possible.

In addition to these key SEO requirements, there are many other factors. If in doubt, just ask us. We have already brought many clients to the front page of Google.

Fake sender details on emails are becoming an ever-increasing problem in the digital space. In particular, the overflowing 'spam' and 'phishing' are making their way with the help of 'forged' addresses. The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is used to control this avalanche of spam.
For each domain, the administrator stores a list of permitted mail transfer agent (MTA) addresses, i.e. servers that are authorized to send emails for this domain. Only those senders included in this list are then authentic, all other emails end up in nirvana.
SPF is not a foolproof system. It does not intercept all unwanted emails because it only recognizes forged sender addresses, but not the spam content itself. On the other hand, SPF is a procedure that makes abusive use legally actionable, provided the recipient system supports SPF.

We all use the standard MIME format (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) for e-mail traffic worldwide. This allows us, for example, to use special German characters outside the ASCII format (ß, ä, ü etc.). However, standardization is always susceptible to attack - which hackers try to exploit for their own purposes.

The S/MIME format ('Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions') was developed to avoid this danger. It is used to sign and/or encrypt emails. To be able to use S/MIME, users must be equipped with an X.509-based certificate.

An unauthorized user can then only read a jumble of letters from an email encrypted in this way. Only knowledge of the sender's key, which was sent to him in a certified e-mail, enables the recipient to read such e-mails.

To participate in S/MIME mail traffic, identity-secured registration with a certification authority (CA) is mandatory. Our IT service enables those customers who operate with confidential data (lawyers, doctors, developers or trustees) to participate securely and easily in this 'intrusion-proof mail traffic'.

Everyone is familiar with the dubious attachments in e-mails, where you don't know whether they contain malicious code or not. The solution for checking a possible destructive effect is called a 'sandbox'. Just as generals used to play out the expected course of a battle in a sandbox, the impact is first analyzed in a quarantine area. Some well-known programs already have a (weaker) sandbox function as a plug-in, for example the 'Java Runtime Environment' (JRE).
Other programs take a much more restrictive approach: here the entire browser is executed in an isolation area, sealed off from all write access to the hard disk. Each of these accesses is redirected to a separate subdirectory, which - in the event of malware - can be easily deleted before malware has a chance to take root. The structure of a 'virtual machine' (VM) is even more comprehensive. Here, an entire computer is simulated on a software level, which is isolated from the real computer in every respect. Only this 'virtual prison' is then 'infected'. Attempts to make system changes, the creation of new network connections or the unmotivated opening of files, for example, are considered suspicious.

Information theorists call everything that is superfluous in a data set simply 'redundant'. They initially regard these duplications as annoying because they only unnecessarily inflate databases without adding information. Almost every message contains such redundancies, which could be omitted without harming the information content. IT programmers call such an intervention in the database 'deduplication'.

However, redundancy also has positive aspects because it can check itself for errors. Redundancy deviations from each other would then be 'alarm signals' that indicate incomplete or faulty transmission. In information theory, it is therefore always necessary to weigh up the quality of a database (high redundancy) against the quantity of data transmission (with low redundancy).

"What is a data center? My God, everyone knows that. A data center is - uh, uh, wait a minute...". Simple questions often cause the biggest problems. Here is the short definition: A data center is an IT facility that provides computing technology for large amounts of data at a central location.

Above all, however, the servers in a data center can operate without downtime. For this reason, all the essential components for smooth operation are available in a data center several times over. Because only there can such an effort pay off. This multiple design in turn makes it possible to maintain individual units without the user ever noticing a drop in performance. This even applies to the power supply, which is completely uninterruptible thanks to cross cabling.

From an economic point of view, data centers are always the better solution once the facility has reached a certain size: programs are installed in a single location instead of on each individual workstation. Data and processes that are updated centrally in one place prevent different levels of information from causing confusion within the company. In short: without centrally networked computers, no modern company could work successfully today.

The method of extorting a 'ransom' by blocking the computer has increased considerably in recent years. The user of a computer then only sees the attackers' 'ransom note' on the monitor. The particularly perfidious thing about this is that if the victim agrees to the demand, their computer usually remains blocked anyway. It is therefore very rare to be able to 'buy your way out'.

Ransomware no longer affects just one operating system. Whether Linux, Mac OS or Windows, all users are affected by this digital form of highway robbery. There have also long been many instructions for building ransomware, known as 'crimeware kits', on the DarkNet. Ransomware usually does not encrypt the entire computer, but rather the data that is important to the user, such as the 'My Documents' folder under Windows.

Protection against ransomware is similar to protection against other viruses or Trojans. For example, a user receives an email with the attachment of an unpaid invoice, with a threat of punishment from the Federal Criminal Police Office, or with alleged usage violations by GEMA. Anyone who opens such an attachment has then handed the blackmailers the 'house key' themselves.

You should therefore NEVER open an e-mail attachment that does not come from an absolutely trustworthy source. GEMA and the BKA still use the good old letter post. It is also important to regularly back up all relevant data on external data carriers, as this keeps it out of reach of the blackmailers. Browsers can be protected against the execution of Java commands by installing applications such as 'NoScript', and ad blockers also offer increased protection.

The 'Random Access Memory' (RAM) is the 'direct access' or 'working memory' that performs the main work in computing processes. A single RAM module has fewer pins than the bus width of the 'words' that are to be processed. As this 'word width' - i.e. the basic processing data size - has constantly increased, up to the 64-bit architecture currently in use, the designers combine many RAMs in a 'bank', which enables them to cover the required word width.

The data in the RAMs is usually 'volatile', i.e. it is not saved when the power supply ends. These forgetful components are also known as dynamic RAM (DRAM). However, there are 'non-volatile' RAM components with a good memory. They are called NVRAM.

Scientists are currently conducting intensive research into resistive RAM (RRAM) for the mass market. Firstly, this type of memory is 'non-volatile', meaning it retains its data, secondly, the memory density is much higher, and thirdly, energy consumption is also significantly reduced. The latter is by no means insignificant, as hardly anything consumes as much energy as RAM, which significantly limits the battery life of smartphones and tablets in particular.

In essence, the pseudonymization of data is a weakened form of anonymization. In the latter, data is changed in such a way that it can no longer be assigned to an individual. In pseudonymization, only the name or other identifiers are replaced by a 'code' - usually a multi-digit sequence of letters and numbers. Although this makes it more difficult to identify the person, it does not usually make it impossible. The relationships between data records remain intact and it is possible to merge data.

'Nicknames', 'pseudos' or 'avatars' - these are all examples of how pseudonymization is advancing in everyday life. Legally, this 'camouflage' is also permitted under Section 13 of the German Telemedia Act. In the event of a complaint, however, this pseudonym is usually uncovered. The service provider is obliged - for example in the case of police or public prosecutor investigations - to disclose the user's real name.

Despite its limited protective effect, the increasing use of pseudonyms is contributing significantly to the decline of the culture of conversation on the Internet. Many users believe they are safe behind the shield of a pseudonym. As a result, the bourgeois inhibition threshold for decency and conversational culture is falling, and strong-German bullying and threats are getting out of hand.