Internal security
BSI: Germany poorly prepared for cyber attacks
The President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI): Claudia Plattner. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
The President of the BSI warns of glaring gaps in protection against cyber attacks. Politicians must act – “before something big happens”.
According to the President of the Federal Office for Information Security, Germany’s defense against large-scale hacker attacks has dangerous gaps.
As of now, there is no common situation report from the federal and state governments and no structures that guarantee the ability to coordinate in such a crisis, he said Claudia Plattner to the “Tagesspiegel”. “We absolutely need that. We can’t call each other 16 times to find out what’s happening where.”
Plattner asked: “What do we do if, for example, the lights go out in Hamburg and Munich at the same time due to a cyber incident that, in the worst case, arises from a geopolitical tension? Then we have to do everything we can from the first second to overcome this crisis .” And this means that we must immediately have a common picture of the situation. If necessary, crisis teams would have to be called together and the federal and state governments would have to come together. “We are not prepared for all of this today, this coordination among each other has not been practiced. The Basic Law prohibits a common database – unfortunately it is that simple and clear.”
Prioritize cybersecurity
In the interview, she appealed to politicians to give the issue of cybersecurity priority “before something big happens and, for example, scores of ATMs fail.” She asked: “Why do we always have to learn from the damage? We know that the topic is incredibly important.”
Looking ahead to the election year, Plattner said her agency’s focus is on the issue of disinformation. “For example, accounts of politicians running for elections are hacked. The attackers try to get information. By publishing it, they want to damage the reputation of the people or the respective state.”
Your authority is trying to technically prevent such attacks. “To do this, we train those affected, give them tips on what they can do if something like this happens and how they can control the course of events. In collaboration with social media operators, we try to quickly remove fake profiles to take platforms.”
When asked what each individual could do to help Germany get through the election year well, she said: “Don’t always believe everything you’re told.”
Interview Plattner