The committee is intended to clarify the hacker potential in Germany and take measures to strengthen and coordinate the fight against such attacks.

German security authorities will also take up contact with US authorities, in order to form a common defense policy against all hacker attacks.

"Security in information technology is a key problem for every modern political economy," said Schily. "For this reason the federal government will take all available measures to enable IT security to be guaranteed in future."

He went on to say that state and economy must work together to combat this new type of attack on the security of economic activity. Such attacks should not be seen as technical games, but are "actions which must be hindered at every cost," said Schily.

A further part of his plan is to threaten hackers with "considerable legal consequences and liability for all damage caused."

The new Task Force will be made up of employees of the German Ministry for the Interior, the Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) and the German Federal Criminal Department (BKA).

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