The safety of IT services is at the heart of the operation of all devices, servers, hardware, and software. The users’ trust in the IT services that they use is the foundation of their successful implementation for the purposes that they serve. To justify and uphold this trust, it is of utmost importance that the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of IT services and the data they use are ensured.
This is an endeavour which every single user should take responsibility for whenever IT services are used.

The most important point is that we all bear a responsibility for the safe operation and use of our IT services; this includes the administrators of our systems as well as all users at our departments, faculties, and seminars who use central IT services, devices, and programs on a daily basis. If every single one of these parties takes their individual responsibility seriously, a safe and reliable operation of our services can be ensured.
Thus, the first step toward a sophisticated awareness of security issues in information technology is developing a sense of individual responsibility for one’s own use of IT services. This entails a responsible treatment of one’s own data, but also the data entrusted to one by colleagues, students, or the Computing Center.
IT Security starts with each single person involved, and with each device and program that we use.

There are certain rules for dealing with matters of information technology and of information security.
The Legal Department of the University of Cologne will be able to assist you with any legal questions or questions related to German and European data protection regulations.

Beyond this, there are some key measures each and every one of us can take on a daily basis.
In this section of our website we would like to introduce you to some of these Golden Rules and let you in on some tips and tricks for a successful and safe use of our IT services.
This will require your support. Some of these rules and tips may seem inconvenient for everyday use at first glance, such as methods to choose a safe password or store data correctly. But we are convinced that our advice, maybe even just some of it, will be useful for you and all people at our University to ensure that we can continue to learn, teach, work, and operate in a safe IT environment.