The large-scale data theft with several hundred politicians and celebrities continues to cause ongoing debate in Germany. Following the already heavily criticized Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) is increasingly coming to the fore.
It must be cleared up quickly and accurately, „which authority knew what when and what was reacted to it,“ now demanded SPD Secretary General Lars Klingbeil, according to media reports on Sunday. „For Horst Seehofer should have the priority. It is about the protection of our democracy, „said Klingbeil, who also complained of a“ confusion in the security authorities. “
Thursday night it had become known that a stranger has published masses of personal information about a now-blocked Twitter account in December, including mobile phone numbers and private chat logs. Among those affected are German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Also data from actors, musicians and journalists were published.
„Outrageous“
If it goes by the vice-president of the German Bundestag, Thomas Oppermann (SPD), it would be „outrageous that stolen data are presented for days on the net and the competent authority does nothing to inform and protect those affected“. Compared to the „Bild am Sonntag“ Oppermann also „serious shortcomings in the coordination of security agencies“ in the room.
He also called on Seehofer to act: „The BSI must become the central cyber defense center in Germany, and Interior Minister Seehofer must realize that this is one of the most important tasks in internal security and will remain in the coming years.“
Also left-wing parliamentary leader Dietmar Bartsch took Seehofer into the sights, since the BSI lies in its business area. „The process must be quickly cleared up completely,“ he said. Bartsch also demanded a reorganization of the BSI. The authority had to „decide on structure, tasks and information policy again“.
Waiting for special session
„We insist that we get information as soon as possible,“ said the parliamentary executive director of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Patrick Schnieder in this context. This is expected at a special meeting of the Bundestag Committee on Domestic Affairs next week. Only then can one say whether something had gone wrong in the communication between security authorities and whether there were deficits.
Schnieder, whose mobile number became public, called the data theft a warning shot. „You can not take that lightly.“ Security advice should be given more attention by politicians and by all citizens.
„Mid-week detailed information“
Seehofer has reportedly reported on Friday from the data theft. „Before: zero,“ said the CSU politician of the „Süddeutsche Zeitung“. Since then, there have been a whole series of initiated conversations to clarify the case. On Monday he will also sit down with the presidents of the BSI and the Federal Criminal Police Office. He expects to inform the public „at the latest in the middle of the week in detail“.
As Seehofer already announced on Friday, there are many indications that „data was obtained through the misuse of access data to cloud services, to e-mail accounts or to social networks“. But there are no indications that systems of the Bundestag or the Federal Government have been „compromised“.
BSI initially believed in individual cases
Meanwhile, the BSI confirmed on Saturday that there was a reference to „questionable movements on private and personalized e-mail and social media accounts“ at the beginning of December by a member of the German Bundestag. At this time, however, all those involved had assumed a single case.
Representatives of several parties previously accused the BSI of having informed too late about the publication of confidential data on the Internet. The trigger is the statement of BSI President Arne Schönbohm from Friday, his authority had been in „individual cases“ at the beginning of December with stakeholders in the conversation.
Reference to jurisdiction
At the beginning of December, the BSI offered support to a member of the Bundestag and had been with experts in this regard, the statement of the agency said. From a planned or already published publication of the stolen information or a connection with the appropriate Twitter account the BSI had no knowledge until the night of Thursday to Friday.
Only after an analysis of the published data sets on Friday could a connection be established between the case of the member of the Bundestag and four other cases „which became known to the BSI in the course of the year 2018“, according to the Federal Office’s statement. „At the beginning of December 2018, it was not foreseeable that there were more cases.“
According to the current state of knowledge, it mainly concerns attacks on private and personal accounts of those affected. The BSI is responsible for the operational protection of government networks. „The BSI can only act as a consultant and on request to provide support for party or private communication by mandate holders,“ emphasized the agency.
Call for intensified cyber defense
The Cyber Security Council Germany has demanded as a consequence after the attack an expansion of cyber defense capabilities. The goal must be to detect attacks faster and to effectively identify and prosecute cybercriminals, said the President of the Cyber Security Council, Hans-Wilhelm Dünn.
The incident shows how acute and serious the dangers of cyberspace are. Not only for the economy, but also against political systems – especially democracies – and society, the advancing, global networking for such campaigns could be abused and cause great damage.
The Cyber Security Council Germany e. V. is politically neutral and advises businesses, government agencies and policymakers on cybersecurity. Thin demanded that operators of instant messaging and microblogging platforms, as well as social networks, be more involved in preventing such dirty actions.
