The use of telemedicine is becoming indispensable for a continuous and economical delivery of a high quality of care. However, data protection requirements have to be considered. For the selection of solutions, vendor-independent components based on standards are a prerequisite for a seamless integration into the existing, often heterogeneous, IT infrastructure. The "Internet protocol" TCP/IP and the DICOM standard with it's new security extensions form the basis for an internationally standardized and accepted procedure for a secure interchange of radiological images beyond platform boundaries.