CybersecurityGermany creates cybersecurity R&D agency

The German government today (Wednesday) announced the creation of a new federal agency to develop cutting-edge cyber defense technology.

Some lawmakers have expressed their unease with the new agency, which, they said, may also develop state-of-the-art cyber offensive capabilities.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the agency would allow Germany to invest in new technologies and in the protection of critical digital infrastructure. She added that the agency would also partner with other EU countries on agency projects.

DW reports that the federal agency will be managed by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior.

The agency would resemble the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is credited with developing the early internet and GPS, von der Leyen said.

The German agency, unlike DARPA, will focus on cyber defense ad cyber protection. DARPA’s range of defense-related research and development is much broader.

Some lawmakers have expressed their concerns about the new agency.

Anke Domscheit-Berg, digital policy spokeswoman for the Left Party, told DW that while Germany needs to do more to protect digital infrastructure, she doubts the agency’s mandate is the best way to do it.

“More digital security would definitely do us all good, and if the new cyber agency does that, it would be a step forward,” Domscheit-Berg said. “We need better encryption and more open source software, but I’m skeptical an agency located somewhere between the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry is setting the right priority.”

Green Party spokesman Konstantin von Notz took it further, arguing that such an agency works against the Foreign Ministry’s work.

“The agency would massively undermine the Foreign Ministry’s efforts at the UN to outlaw cyber weapons,” von Notz told DW. “Instead of promoting a spiraling escalation in the digital space, the government needs to make a U-turn on IT security.”

The issue of military-led and cyberwarfare has been a contentious topic in Germany, and some German lawmakers have questioned whether the Bundeswehr should have the capability to launch offensive cyberattacks.

But von der Leyen noted that the same rules that apply to Germany in the “analogue world will also apply to the virtual one.”