Four days after it became known, the Bundeswehr wiretapping affair was essentially cleared up. The cause: carelessness on the part of a participant. Personnel consequences? Rather not.
The Ministry of Defense blames an “individual application error” for the fact that the conversation of high-ranking Bundeswehr officers about the Taurus weapon system could be intercepted by Russia. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced this interim result of the investigations in Berlin.
The error goes back to the participant who took part in the conversation from Singapore. He dialed in via a “non-secure data line”, i.e. mobile phone or WLAN.
Pistorius ruled out the possibility that a Russian spy took part in the conversation without being noticed. “Our communication systems have not been compromised,” he emphasized.
Personnel consequences not on the agenda
The defense minister said that preliminary disciplinary investigations had been initiated against all four participants in the conversation. However, he also emphasized that personnel consequences were “not currently on the agenda”. Unless something worse comes out, “I will not sacrifice any of my best officers to Putin’s games,” emphasized Pistorius.
On Friday, Russia published a recorded conference call of four senior officers, including Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz. In it, they discussed operational scenarios for the German Taurus cruise missile if it were to be delivered to Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has currently ruled out this and justified his rejection by saying that Germany could then be drawn into the war. Taurus has a range of 500 kilometers and can therefore also hit targets in Moscow from Ukraine.
Singapore conference “a hit” for the Russians
According to Pistorius, the conversation between the four officers took place in accordance with regulations via the Webex internet platform, which the Bundeswehr uses in different protected versions for such conversations. The fact that it could still be intercepted is due to the fact that the subscriber in Singapore did not follow the secure dial-in procedure.
At the time of the conversation, the Singapore Air Show was taking place in the Southeast Asian city-state, in which many high-ranking European military officials took part. “For Russian secret services, such an event in this environment is understandable,” said Pistorius. Wiretapping operations took place across the board in the hotels used.
Access to the Bundeswehr officers’ Webex conference was a “random hit, as part of a broad, diversified approach.”
“We have to further harden our systems”
Pistorius emphasized that the Bundeswehr’s communications systems must continue to be continually checked and improved. “We need to continue to harden our systems,” he said. This is an ongoing process. The “breadth of attacks” on communication systems is increasing massively. He had no knowledge of any further wiretapping. “But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of another one.”
Source: Stern
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