Germany’s cybersecurity chief faces dismissal, reports say

BERLIN – German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants to dismiss the country’s cybersecurity chief due to possible contacts with people involved with Russian security services, German media reported late on Sunday, citing government sources.

Arne Schoenbohm, president of the BSI federal information security agency, could have had such contacts through the Cyber Security Council of Germany, various outlets reported.

Schoenbohm was a founder of the association, which counts as a member a German company that is a subsidiary of a Russian cybersecurity firm founded by a former KGB employee, they wrote.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, the President of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) Holger Muench and the President of the German Federal Office for Information Security Arne Schoenbohm arrive to give a press conference a few days after private datas from hundreds of politicians including German Chancellor have been published online. — AFP

Schoenbohm did not immediately reply to a message sent to him via social media.

Neither the interior ministry nor the BSI immediately replied to requests for comment.

“These accusations must be decisively investigated,” said Konstantin von Notz, the head of the parliamentary oversight committee for Germany’s intelligence agencies.

Source: Reuters