The German government is scrambling to respond to a serious and growing threat of cyber attacks, but it lacks the legal framework to retaliate with cyber attacks of its own, top officials said on Monday. Cyber security is a major concern for Berlin as a Sept. 24 federal election approaches. German intelligence agencies said in December Russia was seeking to use propaganda, cyber attacks and other means to destabilize German society before the vote. “Cyber is what keeps me up at night,” Deputy Defense Minister Katrin Suder told reporters at an event hosted by the Federal Academy for Security Policy, a government training body. “This is not science fiction anymore … It is a topic of immense and growing importance.” Suder said the German military was making progress with a new cyber command that starts operations on Wednesday, and control over cyber functions that had been scattered across the military had become more centralized.
She underscored the division of responsibilities between the military and the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for domestic cyber attacks, adding that the Bundeswehr itself would call the police if it suffered a major cyber attack.
Suder said the military would only retaliate after a large-scale attack on Germany if parliament ordered it to. She rejected some lawmakers’ concerns about insufficient oversight of the various governmental arms involved in cyber security.
“Existing laws apply, even in cyberspace,” she said, noting that any offensive cyber measures would come as part of military mandates that had already been approved by parliament. “The rules are very clear and we observe them.”
Full Article: Germany sees growing cyber threat but lacks legal means to retaliate | Reuters.