Cybersecurity

Cyberattacks Are 'Ticking Time Bombs' for Germany

Germany’s intelligence agencies have warned that increasing cyberattacks are “ticking time bombs” that endanger critical infrastructure, and authorities are racing to fortify defenses. Yet this is new, uncomfortable terrain for a country battling to overcome a weak digital infrastructure and a history of pacifism in the postwar era. That has cast doubt over Germany’s ability to mount a more aggressive approach to cyberwar.

After the 2015 hack, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government unveiled an updated cybersecurity strategy. It is being implemented in large part by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the National Cyber Defense Center. The German military, meanwhile, is building up its own cyber defenses. Housed in an office complex of blue-tinted glass and beige concrete near central Bonn, the Cyber and Information Space Command’s 250-person-strong leadership team oversees 13,500 soldiers and civilians across the country. The group, which protects military intelligence, communications, and geographic-information systems, currently consists largely of military personnel with backgrounds in IT. Lieutenant Colonel Marco Krempel, the department head, likened the military’s current mission—building a cybersecurity army while also responding to ongoing challenges—to “tuning a driving car.”