Cybersecurity

German cyber security agency seeks power to ‘hack back’ in case of attack

In order to overcome present-day cyber security challenges, Germany must be able to “hack back” into the computers of alleged culprits, the head of the country’s newly formed digital security agency has said, arguing that similar measures are being taken by other countries.

“As a [German] citizen I expect that our state would remain capable to act in the face of the emerging digital threats,”Wilfried Karl, the president of the Central Service for Information Technologies in Security Field (Zitis), told the Der Spiegel weekly. He explained that in order to make it possible, German security services, including his agency, must be empowered with wide-reaching authority in the field of cyber security.