Espionage, illegitimate influence peddling, disinformation campaigns, and cyber-attacks increased in Germany in 2022, with activities mainly linked to Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey, according to a report by the domestic intelligence services (BfV) published on Tuesday (20 June).

Read the original German story here.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees a connection between the increase in hybrid threats and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine initiated in February 2022 and China’s growing confrontational approach with the West.

“The criminal Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has changed the security situation across Europe. We have taken strong measures to arm ourselves against espionage, disinformation campaigns, and cyberattacks,” explained German Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser at the presentation of the report on Tuesday (20 June).

Besides Russia, the main actors are China, Iran, and Turkey, and the impact of activities – like cyberattacks, disinformation, and espionage – varies.

The report emphasises that the illegal actions of foreign intelligence services affect national sovereignty and cause considerable operational and economic damage.

In particular, the increased use of social media as a means for disinformation was identified with the aim of weakening social cohesion, disrupting the free formation of opinion, and destabilising democracy.

In addition, companies and research institutions in Germany are expected to be increasingly vulnerable due to an increased attack surface, according to the report.

Russian espionage

With Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine and Germany backing the war-torn country, “more aggressive espionage operations by Russia as well as activities emanating from Russia in cyberspace are to be expected,” the report reads.

On a diplomatic level, Germany has responded to Russia’s war of expressions by expelling 40 of the 400 members of Russian diplomatic missions in the EU.

Russia has since been relying on other methods to obtain crucial information. A new method is to place new staff in Germany disguised as official employees of state representations.

Among the focal points of Russian espionage are German energy policy, the economy, science, technology, and the military, the German intelligence services found.

The federal office also recorded Russian attempts to procure knowledge, armaments, and militarily applicable technologies for producing weapons of mass destruction.

“In this context, an increasing concealment of Russian procurement efforts to circumvent sanctions was noted,” the domestic intelligence service reports.

The identified objective is also to undermine citizens’ confidence in the ability of democratic institutions and mechanisms to act through cyberattacks against political institutions and disinformation campaigns via media.

China’s focus on tech

Unlike Russia, Chinese intelligence activities focused on “maintaining the power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)” and “enforcing the People’s Republic’s claim to global leadership”, the report writes.

To maintain control over the Chinese diaspora, overseas police stations are run by “Chinese expatriates loyal to the line – often with German citizenship.”

Chinese cyber strategy serves to transfer sensitive knowledge from areas including business, science, technology, and the military. One example is the procurement of modern weapons technology from the German security and defence industry.

The focus is on “emerging technologies (EMT) such as quantum technology, artificial intelligence, hypersonic technology, surveillance technology or biotechnology”, the federal office finds.

Scientists are recruited for espionage, and companies with cutting-edge technologies are purchased to advance China’s civil and military development. Direct investment is China’s legal alternative for gaining access to technologies, know-how or intellectual property and for political influence, espionage, and sabotage, the domestic intelligence services identified.

“Sensitive technologies or critical infrastructures, in particular, can also pose risks to public security in Germany,” the report states.

Meanwhile, German policymakers are still divided on excluding Chinese components from the 5G networks, despite a renewed push from the European Commission to exclude high-risk vendors from critical infrastructure.

Iran, Turkey focus on opposition 

Regarding Iran, the focus of intelligence activities in Germany serves to combat opposition groups abroad – though the report also notes an increase in attempted procurements for the Iranian nuclear programme.

Iran’s rulers hold “particularly Germany” responsible for the anti-regime protests that erupted in September 2022.

According to the federal office, Turkey’s intelligence services also aimed to control the opposition.

Turkey aims to enforce the government policy of the AKP party, maintain internal security, and obtain information for political decisions to track down suspected individuals or organisations who oppose the government, the intelligence services reports.

Other states that like to keep an eye on their opposition diaspora in Germany and are mentioned by name in the report include North Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East.

“The report on the protection of the constitution once again highlights the dangers to internal security in Germany: espionage, cyber operations, and attempts by foreign intelligence services to exert influence have become more unrestrained and sophisticated,” said Haldenwang.

[Edited by Kjeld Neubert/Oliver Noyan/Alice Taylor/Luca Bertuzzi]

Source: Euractiv.com