Germany’s Bundestag has approved legislation expanding the powers of its foreign and domestic intelligence services, allowing them to intervene against certain threats rather than only gather and analyse information.
The reform would allow the foreign intelligence service, the BND, to disrupt servers used by state-backed hackers. The domestic service, the BfV, could take technical measures such as deleting stolen information from an attacker’s server, Al Jazeera reported.
The government says the changes address a security gap in cases where intelligence agencies can identify a threat but lack authority to intervene. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has argued that stronger services are needed to confront terrorism and hostile foreign operations.
The Left Party opposed the legislation, raising concerns about privacy and the separation of intelligence gathering from police work. BBC reported that the party’s security spokeswoman, Clara Bünger, warned that the separation was being eroded.
The main provisions are scheduled to take effect on December 31, pending completion of the legislative process.
