Germany’s Minister of the Interior has sacked the country’s cyber-security chief after allegations he had turned a blind eye to a firm with links to Russian security circles.
President of the German Federal Office for Information Security, Arne Schönbohm was released from his duties with immediate effect, news magazine Der Spiegel reported, citing security sources.
Spokesperson for the Minister, Nancy Faeser confirmed that Mr Schönbohm (pictured) would be barred from his office, as “necessary public trust in the neutrality and impartiality of his leadership as president of the most important German cyber-security Agency has been damaged”.
Mr Schönbohm, who’s been in charge of the Agencies overseeing the Government’s computer and communication security since 2016, came under scrutiny after his links to a Russian company in a previous job were highlighted by Jan Böhmermann, a German comedian, in a late-night satire show.
Before heading up the Government’s cyber-security Agency, Mr Schönbohm had helped found the similarly named Cyber Security Council Germany, a lobbying group registered as a voluntary association.
Among the lobbying group’s members since 2020, was the Berlin-based cyber-security firm Protelion, previously known as Infotecs, a subsidiary of a Russian company founded by an ex-KGB employee who received a medal of honour for his services from Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
“The Russian company, Infotecs that wants to protect our critical infrastructure from Russian cyber-attacks works with Russian intelligence services,” Mr Böhmermann said in his program, expressing incredulity.
“Russian agents use Infotecs, which under the name Protelion sells German companies security software.”
While the program did not allege that Mr Schönbohm had continued to keep close ties with Protelion after becoming the Government’s security chief, the revelation raised questions about a key official’s judgment at a time when concerns about the vulnerability of Germany’s critical infrastructure is running high.
After Mr Böhmermann’s program, the lobbying group expelled Protelion from its list of members, but rejected allegations of undue Russian influence as “absurd”.
Berlin, 20 October 2022
