EU Germany cybersecurity chief faces sacking over Russia ties — reports

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Germany cybersecurity chief faces sacking over Russia ties — reports
DW (archive.ph)
2022-10-10

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The interior minister wants to fire the country's cybersecurity chief, according to German media. Reports allege Arne Schönbohm had contacts with individuals connected to Russia's spy agency.

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is looking to fire the chief of the federal agency responsible for cybersecurity, Arne Schönbohm, over his alleged contacts with agents of Russia's security services, Germany's newspapers reported on Sunday, citing anonymous government sources.

Schönbohm is the president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

A recent investigation, however, found that he was also the member of a technology association that has been criticized for its ties to Russia. One of the association's members is a German company that is a subsidiary of a Russian cybersecurity firm founded by a former KGB employee.

The Interior Ministry said on Monday that it "takes the matters reported over the weekend seriously and is investigating them comprehensively."

A scheduled joint appearance of Faeser and Schönbohm on Thursday to present the BSI Situation Report 2022 has reportedly been called off.

What are German media outlets reporting?
The Bild daily tabloid quoted the Interior Ministry as saying, "It is being examined how a rapid change of president can be achieved." German authorities are reportedly hoping to assign Schönbohm a new role rather than remove him outright, as provisions of the civil service law place limitations on the firing of public servants.

Media outlets said Schönbohm's alleged contacts with Russian agents may have come through the Cyber Security Council of Germany. Schönbohm helped found the group, which has among its membership roster a German company that is subsidiary of a Russian firm founded by a former employee of the Soviet-era spy agency, the KGB.
On Monday, Schönbohm called the allegations "absurd."

Konstantin von Notz, the head of the oversight committee for the intelligence services in the Bundestag, or German parliament, said, "These accusations must be decisively investigated."

Why is the Cyber Security Council of Germany controversial?
Among the members of the council is the Berlin-based cybersecurity company Protelion. Until the end of March, the firm did business as Infotecs GmbH.

According to the Policy Network Analytics research network, Protelion nee Infotecs was a subsidiary of the Russian firm O.A.O. Infotecs, operated by a former KGB member.

German media report that Schönbohm was urged by the Interior Ministry to distance himself from the council, but his recent visit to mark the group's anniversary instead created widespread discontent within the ministry.

Germany has accused Russia of cyber attacks in recent years, including in 2015 when a cyberattack brought down the lower house of the Bundestag, or German parliament.
 
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German cybersecurity chief out amid reports of Russia ties
Associated Press (archive.ph)
2022-10-18 13:52:25GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s national cybersecurity agency has been dismissed following reports of possible ties to Russian intelligence, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said that Interior Minister Nancy Faeser dismissed Arne Schoenbohm as head of the BSI agency following the allegations, which “damaged the necessary confidence of the public in the neutrality and impartiality” of his management, German news agency dpa reported.

Schoenbohm co-founded a cybersecurity group a decade ago that brings together experts from public institutions and the private sector. German media have reported that one of its members was a company founded by a former Russian intelligence agent, which the group said last week that it had thrown out.

The German government said over a week ago that it was investigating the reports comprehensively.

There is growing concern in Germany that the country’s critical infrastructure might be targeted by Russia because of Berlin’s support for Ukraine in the war.

Schoenbohm, 53, had been the head of the BSI since February 2016. There was no immediate word on who would succeed him.

The ministry said Faeser’s decision was also in the interest of Schoenbohm himself and of the agency’s 1,500 employees and their ability to work without speculation about the personnel issue, dpa reported.

It said that the allegations would be looked into and evaluated thoroughly, and that there is a presumption of innocence for Schoenbohm while that evaluation is ongoing.

German news weekly Der Spiegel quoted Schoenbohm as saying that, since there had been no “feedback” on the allegations, he had asked on Monday for disciplinary proceedings to be opened to clear up the matter.

He said he didn’t yet know “what the ministry has examined and what the concrete allegations against me look like.”
 
German Cyber Chief Removed Over Claims of Ties to Russia
The New York Times (archive.ph)
By Christopher F. Schuetze
2022-10-18 21:32:45GMT

BERLIN — The German government’s top cybersecurity chief was removed from his post on Tuesday after a hit comedy TV show highlighted his proximity to a German lobbyist group with ties to Russian intelligence.

The Interior Ministry confirmed on Tuesday the dismissal of Arne Schönbohm, who had led the Federal Office for Information Security since 2016. The allegations of possible ties to Russian intelligence, which were reported this month by a German satirical news show, “have permanently damaged the necessary public trust in the neutrality and impartiality” of Mr. Schönbohm, a spokeswoman for the ministry said.

The dismissal comes after the show, ZDF Magazin Royale, reported that even after Russia invaded Ukraine, Mr. Schönbohm stayed in contact with a lobbying group he had co-founded a decade ago that included a Russian cybersecurity firm founded by a Russian intelligence agent. The lobbying group cut ties with the Russian firm three days after the show aired.
The show did not link Mr. Schönbohm directly with Russian intelligence, though the current president of the lobbying group acknowledged such contacts.

Mr. Schönbohm did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the German newsweekly Der Spiegel quoted him as saying that he had asked this week for disciplinary proceedings to be opened to clear up the issue. The Interior Ministry said that the allegations “would be thoroughly and vigorously investigated” and that he was “presumed innocent.”

Mr. Schönbohm’s removal comes as the federal police have stepped up their focus on protecting German infrastructure from attacks. Fears were heightened after an attack last month on the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, and the sabotage this month of a communication system used by the country’s trains.

Germany has been the target of Russian cyberattacks before, including one against Parliament in 2015.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended a host of German policies, including prompting the government to wean itself off the Russian energy that gave President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia leverage over Europe. Germany long thought that strong trade ties to Russia would make it more secure and help its economy, but it has worked to distance itself in the wake of the invasion.

Parliament cut post-chancellory perks for Gerhard Schröder, the country’s leader from 1998 to 2005, after he declined to sever ties to Russian oil and disavow his friendship with Mr. Putin.

The invasion has also put pressure on the country’s leaders to vastly increase military spending. While Germany has donated many weapons to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has resisted calls to send tanks for fear that Germany would be seen as a party to the war, he has said.

In Mr. Schönbohm’s case, the show’s host, Jan Böhmermann, reported that a company that marketed itself in Germany as Protelion was actually a Russian company called Infotecs that had changed its name soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Infotecs was founded in Russia by Andrei Chapchaev, a former Russian K.G.B. officer who received a Medal of Honor from the Russian president this summer, Mr. Böhmermann’s show said.

The show implied that Protelion, which advertises itself as a service helping to secure the data and networks of its clients, actually makes that data more vulnerable to Russian hacking. Furthermore, the lobbying group co-founded by Mr. Schönbohm, which goes by the official-sounding name “Cyber Security-Council Germany” and includes establishment players, gave Protelion a veneer of respectability, according to the show.

Although the segment did not link Mr. Schönbohm to Infotecs, it focused on a 10th anniversary party of the lobbying group that Mr. Schöhnbohm had attended in September, while leading Germany’s cybersecurity office.

Mr. Böhmermann, whose show is similar in scope and ambition to “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and regularly exposes corruption or hypocrisy, teased the revelations as Germany’s biggest birthday present to Mr. Putin.

However, some commentators were uneasy with Mr. Böhmermann’s portrayal of Mr. Schöhnbohm, whose participation in the anniversary party was reportedly approved by the Interior Ministry.

“If one looks more closely at the specific accusations against Schönbohm, however, not much remains,” wrote Jürgen Schmidt, a journalist who specializes in cybersecurity, in one opinion essay.

Mr. Schönbohm, a top bureaucrat who is the son of a conservative politician, cannot be fired unless major wrongdoing is proved. He will be simply removed from his post and placed on paid leave until a new job for him is found.

Christopher F. Schuetze covers German news, society and occasionally arts from the Berlin bureau. Before moving to Germany, he lived in the Netherlands, where he covered everything from tulips to sea-level rise. @CFSchuetze
 
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