The head of the Federal Office for Information Security, Schönbohm, is closely associated with an association that in turn has contacts with Russian intelligence circles. Satirist Jan Böhmermann makes the scandal, which has occupied the Ministry of the Interior for some time, public. Schönbohm is probably about to be replaced.
According to media reports, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants to recall the President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm. This is reported by "Bild" and the "Handelsblatt", citing government circles. A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior did not want to comment on the reports when asked by dpa. Ministry circles said that the presentation of the BSI management report, originally planned for Thursday, is to be postponed.
Schönbohm has been criticized for possible contacts with Russian secret service circles through the controversial "Cyber Security Council Germany" association. Schönbohm's connection had previously been discussed by Jan Böhmermann in the "ZDF Magazin Royale" program. A spokesman said the Interior Ministry was investigating and examining the matter closely. "All options are being examined and how the current situation should be dealt with."
Because of the provisions of civil service law, the head of the agency cannot simply be dismissed. The "Bild" reported that after the dismissal, a new job was being sought for Schönbohm as soon as possible and a successor was being sought for the BSI. The BSI did not respond to a request from the dpa.
The association "Cyber Security Council Germany" is criticized, among other things, because of the membership of the Berlin cybersecurity company Protelion. The company operated under the name Infotecs GmbH until the end of March. This is a subsidiary of the Russian cybersecurity company O.A.O.Infotecs, which, according to information from the research network Policy Network Analytics, was founded by a former employee of the Russian intelligence service KGB.
For a long time there has been displeasure in the Ministry of the Interior about Schönbohm's role in and his dealings with the Cyber Security Council. The recent allegations and Schönbohm's visit to the club's anniversary have now apparently brought the last straw.
The digital policy spokeswoman for the Left Group in the German Bundestag, Anke Domscheit-Berg, explained on Twitter that she had requested that the digital committee deal with the topic next Wednesday. What Böhmermann made public about connections between Russian intelligence services, "a dubious cyber security association, its members and the BSI" is incomprehensible.
Schönbohm is one of the co-founders of the "Cyber-Sicherheitsrat Deutschland e.V.", which has been criticized, among other things, because it acted like a supposed state institution on certain occasions. In 2019, the club's president, Hans-Wilhelm Dünn, admitted to the ARD magazine "Kontraste" and the weekly "Die Zeit" that he had contacts with Russian intelligence agencies. According to DPA information, Schönbohm had been suggested several times to opt out of the "Cyber Security Council Germany e.V." to distance. At the beginning of September, however, the head of the authorities appeared at the club to publicly congratulate it on its tenth anniversary.
