{"id":48922,"date":"2022-10-19T07:30:12","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T07:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/germany-stands-down-cyber-boss-over-russian-ties\/"},"modified":"2022-10-19T07:30:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T07:30:12","slug":"germany-stands-down-cyber-boss-over-russian-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/germany-stands-down-cyber-boss-over-russian-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany stands down cyber boss over Russian ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germany’s government has stood down the president of its Federal Office for Information Security, Arne Sch\u00f6nbohm, over his links to Russia.<\/p>\n

Sch\u00f6nbohm’s woes erupted last week when late-night chat show ZDF Magazine Royale branded him a “Cyberclown” in a Twitter thread that detailed some of the wurst moments of his career:<\/p>\n

\n

Was das BMI zu Arne Sch\u00f6nbohm wusste. Ein Thread (1\/12) #cyberclown<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ZDF Magazin Royale (@zdfmagazin) October 10, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Among the matters raised in the thread were Sch\u00f6nbohm’s founding of a lobby group called Cyber Security Council Germany. The group admitted a member company called Protelion, which claimed to be German but was in fact founded by a former KGB officer who has been honored for services to Russia by Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

Industry associations dependent on member contributions can in theory be swayed by those who make the most generous, or vocal, contributions. That opportunity has not gone unnoticed by intelligence agencies as they look to detect and deflect influence operations \u2013 or sometimes run them by creating flimsy lobby groups.<\/p>\n

Sch\u00f6nbohm is not accused of any wrongdoing at the Cyber Security Council, but his judgement has been called into question as it’s not a good look to have been in a position to assist a Russian infosec outfit.<\/p>\n

Germany is also right now very sensitive to Moscow’s many needling tactics. The Euro nation is preparing to shiver through a winter with heaters turned down to ameliorate high energy prices caused by Russia’s restriction of gas exports \u2014 part of its retaliation to Western support for Ukraine’s resistance to Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.<\/p>\n