Germany is facing a mix of threats from cyberattacks and espionage, with the major sources coming from Russia, China, and Iran, according to recent statements by the German Interior Minister during the release of the annual report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Minister mentioned that foreign powers extensively use their intelligence agencies to conduct espionage activities in Germany, including monitoring and pressuring dissenters living abroad, with the scope of hacking attacks extending to economic and political spheres.
On June 18, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Office for the Protection of the Constitution Director Thomas Haldenwang jointly presented the latest annual report for 2023. Faeser highlighted that “foreign powers widely use their intelligence agencies to spy on Germany” and attempt to surveil and exert pressure on exiled dissidents. The range of hacker attacks includes economic and political domains.
The Federal Criminal Police Office also released its 2023 annual report in mid-May, stating that “cyberattacks are on the rise in terms of quantity and severity.” The report indicated that 80% of German companies have been impacted by attacks such as data theft, espionage, or sabotage. Over 800 companies and institutions fell victim to cyberattacks from abroad, marking a 28% increase compared to the previous year. Over the past two years, cyberattacks from China have increased by 50%.
According to the report, most of the perpetrators in these cases are located outside Germany or their whereabouts are unknown, with the targets being within Germany. Domestic cybercrime cases in Germany decreased by 1.8%.
The latest 2023 Economic Protection Research by the Digital Industry Association (Bitkom) revealed that nearly three-quarters (72%) of the damage caused to the German economy due to events like data theft, sabotage, and industrial espionage stemmed from cyberattacks. The losses amounted to €148 billion, a significant increase from the previous year’s approximately €128 billion.
In May of this year, a hacking incident was exposed by German media. In 2022, the FBI informed German authorities that a Chinese espionage group had targeted German political figures, affecting around 400 parliamentarians or their staff. However, Germany did not issue any warnings to the parliamentarians regarding the hacking attacks, and the media did not receive any related information.
In mid-April, the issue of Chinese espionage made headlines. Three Germans were arrested on suspicion of providing military intelligence to China. Subsequently, a Chinese assistant to a member of the European Parliament was also arrested on espionage charges.
The German prosecutor’s office stated that in the first case, the three suspects were accused of serving the Chinese Intelligence Agency since before June 2022 and were involved in exporting a specific laser without proper authorization. One of them was allegedly developed into a spy by Chinese state security, while the other two, a married couple, owned a company in Dusseldorf. The company had a research transfer agreement with a German university, initiating a research project on machine parts technology for a Chinese partner.
The federal prosecutor’s office mentioned that these parts could be used in ship engines, and the Chinese partner for the project was the Chinese state security, funded by the Chinese government.
Regarding these espionage charges, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied them, labeling them as “slander and repression against China.”
On April 23, major German media outlets reported another espionage case: an assistant to a member of the European Parliament named Jian Guo was arrested in Dresden, Germany. He had been working for the parliamentarian since 2019 and had acquired German citizenship.
The German authorities accused him of working for the Chinese intelligence agency, transmitting negotiation and decision-making intelligence from the European Parliament to China, in addition to gathering information on Chinese dissidents in Germany for the Chinese authorities. The prosecutor’s office described the case as “particularly serious.”
At the time, the identity of the parliamentarian was not disclosed, but it was soon revealed that he was Maximilian Krah, the top candidate for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the European Parliament. Krah mentioned that he learned about the arrest of his employee through the media.
The German Minister of Justice, Nancy Faeser, also remarked that the espionage allegations were “extremely serious” and, if proven true, would be an “attack from within the European democratic system.”