German ex-spies to be fined for advertising skills online

BND seal

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
At least a dozen German former intelligence officers are to face disciplinary action after they were found advertising their past spy careers on a job-seekers’ professional networking Web site. The German government authorized the country’s leading external intelligence agency, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), to initiate an internal investigation, after German tabloid newspaper Bild drew attention to the online revelations in a leading article. The newspaper listed 12 former BND officers who advertised their past intelligence careers on their publicly listed résumés on Xing.com, a German-language website that serves as Germany’s version of LinkedIn.com. German federal legislation expressly forbids BND personnel from ever publicly revealing their professional ties with the spy agency, even after dismissal, resignation or retirement. A German government representative, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the office of Germany’s Chancellor has requested that the BND imposes disciplinary action, including lawsuits, against the twelve former spies named by Bild, as well against any others who may have disclosed their BND ties. A detailed report on the Deutsche Welle last January said the BND continues to struggle immensely with bureaucratic inefficiency and substandard human and financial resources, and has yet to hammer out its new mission in the post-Cold-War environment.