Germany fires the head of its cybersecurity agency over alleged ties to Russia

The head of the German cybersecurity agency, Arne Schönbohm, has been removed from his duties with immediate effect, an interior ministry spokesman announced on Tuesday, after the media revealed his alleged ties to Russia.

“The Minister of the Interior (Nancy) Faeser decided today to dismiss from his functions with immediate effect the president of the german cybersecurity agency (BSI), Arne Schönbohm,” a ministry spokesman told AFP in an email.

Arne Schönbohm was in the spotlight since the media echoed his closeness to a cybersecurity advisory association, suspected of having a relationship with Russian intelligence services.

“The well-known and widely discussed accusations in the media definitely damaged the public’s necessary confidence in the neutrality and impartiality” of the chairman of Germany’s top cybersecurity authority, the interior ministry said.

“This is especially true in the current crisis situation over Russian hybrid warfare,” he added.

The ministry indicated that an investigation into these allegations is ongoing.

Pending the conclusion of this investigation, the presumption of innocence naturally applies to the person of Schönbohm,” the ministry added.

This dismissal comes as Germany is on alert against possible sabotage attacks from Moscow.

After pipeline leaks Nord Stream 1 and 2, built to bring Russian gas to Europe, the country suffered a large-scale railway sabotage on October 8, for which some point to Russia as possibly responsible in the context of the war in ukraine.

The 53-year-old Schönbohm, in office since February 18, 2016, was chosen by the government of the former chancellor Angela Merkel.

The name of this former manager of the Franco-German aeronautical group EADS was then the target of criticism, especially by the Greens who are now in government.

“The question can be asked whether the security appointments of the previous CDU-CSU (conservative, ndlr) governments were the best possible,” cybersecurity expert Markus Beckedahl recently commented in an interview with the public broadcaster SWR.

Political affiliation “was more important than experience itself, and the consequences can be seen today,” he deplored.

For more than a week, Arne Schönbohm has been questioned about his alleged contacts with an association called “Cyber-Sicherheitsrat Deutschland” (German Cybersecurity Council or CSRD).

The association, co-founded in 2012 by Schönbohm and headquartered in Berlin, advises companies, government agencies and policymakers on cybersecurity issues.

looking forward

These relationships were the subject of investigations presented at the beginning of October in a program on the public television channel ZDF.

One of the CSRD adherent companies is being targeted. This company, Protelion, is a subsidiary of the Russian cybersecurity company OAO Infotecs, which according to information from the research network “Policy Network Analytics” was founded by a collaborator of the Russian intelligence service KGB.

Russia has been repeatedly accused of cyberespionage against Germany, and that was before its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

He is believed to be responsible for a major hack in 2015 that affected the computers of the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, and the services of then Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Olaf Scholz’s government has promised that strengthening security will be a priority.

“We have been very concerned about IT security for the last 20, 30 years,” said expert Markus Beckedahl.

He added that this matter in Germany “was always considered in the political and economic decision-making bodies as a necessary evil, but not necessarily as a basic condition for the creation of durable infrastructures for the future.”