Everyone wants to make a good first impression in a new job. But not everyone is under as much scrutiny as the successor to the ousted BSI boss Arne Schönbohm. That’s why Claudia Plattner probably cares a lot about how she comes across during her first appearance on Wednesday in the Bundestag Committee for Digital Affairs. The MPs had invited the head of the authority, and now the new one, who is supposed to make everything better, is presenting her plans for the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). And they are one thing above all: big.
In view of the current threat situation, one should not get lost in the small details when it comes to cybersecurity. Plattner warns that the situation is dramatic: “The attackers are getting fitter and fitter.” Especially in view of the war in Ukraine, there is a need for a body that has very clear authority and can react quickly in an emergency. “If the lights go out in Bremen and Berlin at the same time, triggered by an attack from the east, we have to know who is responsible.”
More money, more cooperation with business and science
The BSI also needs more money to be able to keep up with hackers and hostile information services. 38 million euros will be needed for this next year. Technological problems must be addressed with technological solutions, says Plattner. But even a BSI ten times larger could not guarantee protection against cyber attacks on its own; only a triangle of business, science and politics could do that. The federal government must therefore make it easier for private actors to invest in innovations.
Despite all the severity with which Plattner wants to put criminals and state attackers online, not every means is right for her. So-called “hackbacks,” where you “walk up to an opponent and eliminate them,” don’t matter to them. Plattner’s superior, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), sparked a debate a few months ago with a push for such cyber counterattacks from the state.
The mathematician was the ECB’s cyber expert
A Faeser initiative is also the reason why Claudia Plattner is sitting here at all. The program “ZDF Magazin Royale” had accused its predecessor Arne Schönbohm of being too close to a club that maintained contacts with Russian secret services. Faeser saw public trust in the head of her IT security agency as destroyed – and transferred him. Claudia Plattner has been heading the BSI since July. The mathematician was previously responsible for cybersecurity and other digital matters at the European Central Bank (ECB) as Director General.
The Union accuses Interior Minister Faeser of having acted hastily and unfairly: she is said to have appointed the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is subordinate to her, to target him. Faeser denies this and in turn accuses the CDU of an election campaign maneuver. The minister is running as the top candidate in Hesse, where a new state parliament will be elected in October.
Just a few hours before Claudia Plattner took the floor in the Digital Committee and thanked her warmly for the invitation, her superior in the Interior Committee answered questions about the Schönbohm case. An invitation that, for all we know, wasn’t all that welcome.