Head of the authorities Plattner: Germany is ill

Highlights: Germany's defense against large-scale hacker attacks has dangerous gaps. There is no common situation report from the federal and state governments. No structures that guarantee the ability to coordinate in such a crisis, Claudia Plattner told the “Tagesspiegel’ (Sunday) »We definitely need that. We can't call each other 16 times to find out what's happening where," she said. She appealed to politicians to give priority to the issue of cybersecurity "before something big happens"

Hackers are increasingly attacking German authorities. But the state is poorly prepared for such incidents, says the president of the responsible federal office. There is a political solution.

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Symbolic image of cyber attack: no ability to coordinate in the event of a crisis

Photo: Michael Weber / IMAGO

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, Claudia Plattner told the “Tagesspiegel” (Sunday). »We definitely need that. We can't call each other 16 times to find out what's happening where." Plattner has been President of the Federal Office for Information Security since July 2023.

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 very first second to overcome this crisis. And this means that we have to have a common picture of the situation immediately. 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 any of this today; this coordination among ourselves has not been practiced. The Basic Law prohibits a common database - unfortunately it is that simple and clear.

“Why do we always have to learn from harm?”

In the interview, she appealed to politicians to give priority to the issue of cybersecurity "before something big happens and, for example, scores of ATMs fail." She asked: “Why do we always have to learn from harm? 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 are trying to get information. By publishing they want to damage the reputation of the people or the respective state.

Your authority is trying to technically prevent such attacks. »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 working with social media operators, we try to quickly remove fake profiles from the 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."

aka/dpa

Head of the authorities Plattner: Germany is ill

“Why do we always have to learn from harm?”

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