Cyber threats: Italia and Germany update their response framework to tackle the challenge. Here’s how
Italia has decided to designate the Chief of the General Staff as the Defence Cyber Authority and to grant him sole responsibility for the Ministry of Defence’s data; in Germany, the foreign intelligence service is authorised to take active measures against the IT infrastructure of foreign powers
Key points
The fact that cyber-attacks have come to be regarded by states as the number one threat to national security is also evident in the organisational decisions recently taken by Italia and Germany in response to this challenge. Both Rome and Berlin have recently adopted measures to overhaul their defences against this insidious threat.
Italia is focusing on a joint cyber command
The bill approved by the Italian government on 5 August on the “strengthening and adaptation of national defence capabilities”, for example, includes the creation of a dedicated cyber threat unit within the Ministry of Defence as one of its key new provisions. The Chief of the Defence Staff is designated as the Defence cyber authority and bears sole responsibility for the Ministry’s data, without prejudice to the powers of the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior, the intelligence agencies, the National Cybersecurity Agency and the Central Office for Classified Information. The Information and Security Department of the Defence General Staff is renamed the Joint Cyber Intel Command. The Joint Training Centre for Combat and Countering Hybrid Threats is established, reporting directly to the Chief of the Defence General Staff. The centre is headed by a major general.
In Germany, foreign intelligence services are taking action against the IT infrastructure of foreign powers
Following the defence reform and the transformation of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, on Wednesday 12 August Berlin gave the green light to the reform of the intelligence services in the Federal Republic, which will now be examined by parliament. Until now, German agents have had very limited powers, whilst the draft of the new law provides for them to become much more effective and operational, both in terms of defence and attack, acquiring powers of direct intervention and becoming full-fledged 007s. The reform also concerns the BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst), the foreign intelligence service, which will be able to take active measures against the IT infrastructure of foreign powers during cyber-attacks or disinformation campaigns. It will also be able to operate within the country. It will also be authorised to use force, referred to as ‘Kinetisches Mittel’ (‘kinetic means’), but the text does not clarify whether this amounts to a genuine licence to kill, as is the case with the CIA and the Mossad.
