Germany Expands Spy Powers | Intelligence Agencies Could Hack And Disrupt Foreign Threats

Germany is preparing a major overhaul of its intelligence laws, with the government proposing significantly expanded powers for the country’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies. The German cabinet has approved draft legislation that would give the BND and BfV greater access to electronic devices and the ability to retain intelligence gathered from them. The most significant proposed change could allow German intelligence agencies to move beyond monitoring threats and actively disrupt foreign cyberattacks, espionage and sabotage networks. Under the proposed framework, agencies could potentially penetrate computer systems, disable servers used by hostile networks and interfere with certain foreign operations.