Intelligence agencies to take active measures against threats, sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation operations.
On Wednesday, the German Cabinet approved a bill to give the intelligence services greater powers and allow them to act operationally rather than limiting themselves to collecting information.
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“This is a revolution in our security architecture because, for the first time, we are giving the intelligence services operational powers. Germany is facing a serious threat situation that we confront every day,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
“We are the daily target of hybrid warfare, espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks and covert actions by foreign powers whose goal is to destabilize Germany, cause harm to our country and also bring about political and social changes in our society,” he argued.
The reform applies primarily to the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), which is responsible for foreign intelligence, and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which operates domestically. Under the changes, the principle that the BND is an agency dedicated to collecting information will remain in place.
“But it would be negligent, in the face of immediate dangers detected as part of intelligence-gathering activities, to continue limiting ourselves to observing without doing anything,” said Chancellery Minister Nina Warken.
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The fact that this question came from a German… pic.twitter.com/F06TRpZxch
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Once the reform is approved by Parliament, the intelligence services will be able to implement so-called “active measures.” Thus, if a threat identified to Germany’s security, the life and physical integrity of the population, or another matter of comparable importance cannot be neutralized by other means, the BND will be able to take active action on its own.
Warken said that, in the face of persistent and planned threats from a foreign power, this includes, for example, manipulating supplies by introducing defective components, deliberately infiltrating the computer systems of drone factories or chemical weapons laboratories for sabotage purposes, or shutting down or disabling servers belonging to state-run hacker groups or disinformation actors.
However, the ban on using force against people abroad remains in place, although BND members will no longer need special permission to leave Germany carrying weapons.
The powers of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution will also be expanded, allowing it to analyze large amounts of data using artificial intelligence and conduct digital searches.
“This is an essential element for discovering, for example, plans for attacks when there is access to online data,” Dobrindt said, adding that there would also be active protective measures allowing authorities to manipulate, alter or disable means used to commit crimes, such as explosives.
The Interior Minister sought to emphasize the modernization of the services by outlining the limitations of the agencies’ current powers. He said that, on some occasions, information was received from agencies in friendly countries about threats that could not be shared with the police, but only with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which could not take action because it lacked operational powers.
Dobrindt stressed that law-abiding German citizens have nothing to fear from the reform regarding possible violations of their privacy, as some critics argue. “This is about combating terrorists and actions by external actors,” he vowed.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
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