BSI President Arne Schönbohm was dismissed from office today. This was preceded by a lengthy stalemate after ZDF Magazin Royal reported on Schönbohm's proximity to an association that is said to have closer ties to Russian secret service circles.
The Federal Office for Security in Information Technology (BSI) is the office for IT security in Germany. It is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD).
So today it was a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior who confirmed the dismissal. A decision was made to “prohibit Schönböhm from conducting official business as President of the BSI with immediate effect,” he said, according to a report by the Tagesschau. Especially with a view to the hybrid Russian warfare, the allegations affect the “essential trust” of the minister in his office. Public trust is also damaged, and neutrality and impartiality are in question.
The Ministry of the Interior now wants to thoroughly examine all known allegations and subject them to “an in-depth assessment”. For Schönbohm, however, the presumption of innocence naturally applies until the investigation is completed.
Controversial allegations
The starting point for the current development was an article in Jan Böhmermann's ZDF Magazin Royal. There was a report on Schönbohm’s connection to the Cyber Security Council Germany e.V. association, which is said to have closer contacts with Russia and the secret service circles there. The focus was in particular on the cybersecurity company Protelion, which until recently was still a member of the Cyber Security Council Germany e.V.. Der Spiegel already reported in 2019 on the closeness to Russia of the current chairman of the association, Hans-Wilhelm Dünn, but he denies Russian influence.
Schönbohm co-founded the association in 2012 and headed it for a number of years, in This year he also appeared at a 10th anniversary celebration to offer congratulations. In 2019, the BSI issued instructions to employees not to appear with representatives of the association. Schönbohm himself had the appearance approved by the Ministry of the Interior.
However, the allegations are controversial, as reported by Der Spiegel. For example, Protelion GmbH only joined the association in 2020 (and is no longer a member). Schönbohm had long since been with the BSI. And according to Spiegel, the authority has completed its tasks for the company on a technical level.
The cyberclown has earned respect
Schönbohm as a person is just as controversial as the specific allegations. Ridiculed in the early days as a #cyberclown, he has at least gained a reputation in expert circles as the head of department who listens to his specialist departments. Jürgen Schmidt from heise security points out that the BSI under Schönbohm always and publicly spoke out in favor of closing security gaps. Backdoors in encryption were also rejected. So he was a person who spoke out against the political agenda in the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
One of the allegations is that the Ministry of the Interior is using the current excitement to remove an undesirable personal detail. Other experts, such as Constanze Kurz, spokeswoman for the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), welcome the dismissal. In a comment on Netzpolitik.org, she calls not only for a change of office line, but also for the BSI to be removed from the orbit of the Ministry of the Interior.