Eleven days after Arne Schönbohm was the focus of a ZDF program by TV entertainer Jan Böhmermann, he lost his job. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has released Schönbohm, President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). A spokesman for her ministry said on Tuesday. First he had mirror reported. The BSI is responsible for cyber security in Germany. It is intended to help authorities and companies to protect themselves against hackers.
Schönbohm had the reputation of not keeping enough distance from the problematic part of the IT security industry. Some companies in the industry are regarded as instruments for espionage and sabotage by secret services – and should therefore actually be Schönbohm’s opponents. After all, companies hired to defend computer systems can also spy on them.
Böhmermann had reported on Friday a week ago about Schönbohm’s contacts with the “Cyber Security Council Germany eV”, which is accused of having dubious contacts with Russia. Companies that have to do with IT security in the broadest sense are members of the association. In the eyes of critics, the name was close to official pretense – after all, it sounds as if the lobby association were an official body of the federal government.
“Relationship of trust damaged”
Schönbohm founded the association himself during his time in the IT private sector. As head of the BSI, he resigned from the association and banned his employees from visiting there – only to appear at its tenth anniversary celebration himself. He had obtained approval for this from the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for the BSI.
Schönbohm’s further contacts with the association were all the more problematic as Protelion was also a member there. Protelion and its parent company Infotecs were founded by a former KGB agent and reportedly have ties to what is now Russia’s FSB secret service. The company denies spying for Russia. Got known in the past few days also that the BSI allowed an examination of the Protelion software to continue for two years after the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already warned about the company.
The Minister of the Interior has now decided to “prohibit Schönbohm from conducting official business as President of the BSI with immediate effect,” said a ministry spokesman. “The background to this is not least the allegations, which are well-known and widely discussed in the media, and which have permanently damaged the public’s necessary trust in the neutrality and impartiality of the conduct of his office as President of the most important German cyber security authority.”
This applies “all the more in the current crisis situation with regard to Russian hybrid warfare,” the spokesman continued. “The allegations in the room also affect the essential relationship of trust between the minister and the administration.”
“Schönbohm came into office as a lobbyist”
Approval comes from the opposition. Anke Domscheit-Berg, network policy spokeswoman for the left in the Bundestag, said Süddeutsche Zeitung: “I think the interior minister’s decision was the right one, because Arne Schönbohm caused serious damage to the BSI with his lack of distance from the questionable German Cyber Security Council.” With his greeting on his birthday, he “virtually provided this club with a TÜV seal”.
Schönbohm had already been criticized when he was appointed six years ago, among other things because, as a business administration graduate, he did not have any technical expertise for the complex issues of IT security. Domscheit-Berg said: “Schönbohm came into office as a lobbyist and, even during his tenure at the head of the BSI, always placed a disproportionate focus on this type of activity and neglected important tasks of organizational development.”
After all, to the delight of IT experts, Schönbohm also contradicted the Ministry of the Interior on the subject of security gaps during his tenure. Minister Faeser and her security officers want to remain open as to whether they report vulnerabilities in software to the manufacturers or leave it alone in order to eavesdrop on devices or apps themselves. Schönbohm preferred to rely on his specialists and wanted to report any gaps immediately and have them closed.
However, in the days after the Böhmermann broadcast, questions were raised as to whether throwing out Schönbohm would not be too drastic. After all, he had no direct contact whatsoever with suspected Russian agents. It is not yet clear who will be his successor. Manuel Höferlin, domestic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, said that there should be no vacuum at the top of the office in these times: “It is important that, in addition to the necessary clarification, Schönbohm’s position is now quickly filled. Against the background of the current attacks Due to our critical infrastructure and the high level of threat posed by Russia, there must be no standstill when it comes to the important issue of cyber security.”