The German federal government plans to take a more offensive stance against cyberattacks. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday edition) that Germany will “enable countermeasures and set a very low threshold for them”. He said the country will “retaliate, even abroad. We will disrupt attackers and destroy their infrastructure”.
Dobrindt explained that Germany is “constantly hit by cyberattacks-on institutions, infrastructure, and businesses”. Many of these attacks, he said, come from groups linked to state intelligence services and are funded by those agencies. He focused on the hybrid attacks originating from Russia and other parts of the world, warning that such behaviour “cannot be tolerated”.
He outlined that counter‑attacks will be carried out jointly by the intelligence services and the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt). To better coordinate the work of different levels, the Interior Ministry plans to establish a new centre for defending against hybrid threats. This centre is currently being prepared by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and is expected to become operational later this year.
According to Dobrindt, Germany’s intelligence agencies should also receive new authorities for gathering information and conducting other activities. “We have been too dependent on information from others” he said. “For me it is clear: we also need a turning point for the intelligence services”. He intends to enable them to “collect more information by themselves and act operationally”. Laws to provide these powers will be presented within the first half of the year.
