Germany | intelNews.org

News you may have missed #0028

July 15, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Iran could have the bomb in six months, says German intelligence. Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) alleges that if the Iranians “wanted to they could test a nuclear bomb within half a year.”
Australian PM threatens China over Rio Tinto spy case. Kevin Rudd warned China it has “economic interests at stake”, less than a week after Beijing arrested the Australian chief of the Anglo-Australian mine company’s iron ore operations in China.
12 Mexico intelligence officers mutilated and killed. The mutilated bodies of the one female and 11 male federal intelligence officer were left in a heap beside a road in rural Michoacan state. Drug gangsters launched a brutal offensive against the Mexican government last Saturday, after the capture of their senior leader, Arnaldo “La Minsa” Rueda. “We’re waiting for you,” read a taunting sign left with the bodies.
NRO releases unclassified portions of 2009 budget. The super-secretive US National Reconnaissance Office, which is in charge of US satellite spying, has released fragments of its FY2009 Congressional Budget Justification Book. Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago there were rumors circulating in Washington that NRO may be broken up into several smaller agencies.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Arnaldo Rueda, Australia, BND, China, energy resources, Germany, intelligence budget, intelligence estimates, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Kevin Rudd, Mexico, Michoacan state (Mexico), News, news you may have missed, NRO, nuclear proliferation, Rio Tinto, Stern Hu, United States, war on drugs

News you may have missed #0025

July 12, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

BREAKING NEWS: Several news outlets are reporting this morning that it was former US vice-President Dick Cheney who ordered the CIA to conceal from Congress key information about a covert action intelligence program of an undisclosed nature. See here for more.
New book claims Ernest Hemingway was KGB agent. The new book Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America (Yale University Press), co-written by John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Alexander Vassiliev, alleges that the Nobel prize-winning novelist was on the KGB’s list of agents in America from 1941, when he was given the codename “Argo” by the Soviets.
Thousands of former Stasi spies still working in German civil service. A report in the German edition of The Financial Times claims that over 17,000 former members of East Germany’s Stasi remain employed as civil servants in reunified Germany. Stasi is the name commonly used for the Ministry for State Security, communist East Germany’s secret police.
NSA director’s secret visit to New Zealand revealed. A reporter accidentally spotted Lieutenant-General Keith Alexander, director of the US National Security Agency, entering a Wellington building accompanied by security personnel. The revelation prompted a spokesperson at the US embassy in Wellington to admit that Alexander was indeed in New Zealand “for consultations with government officials”. The close signals intelligence relationship between the US and New Zealand have been known since 1996.
Chinese national caught trying to purchase crypto hardware. Chi Tong Kuok was arrested by the FBI at the Atlanta International Airport en route from Paris to Panama, where he allegedly planned to purchase US military radios. The US government claims Kuok has admitted he was “acting at the direction of officials for the People’s Republic of China”.
Taliban say cell phone SIM cards guide US drone strikes. A Taliban circular says SIM cards planted by informants in cell phones used by militants are used to signal American drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As IntelNews recently explained, there are suspicions that this and similar discoveries are gradually prompting the Taliban and al-Qaeda to stop using cell phones altogether.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, AUSCANZUKUS, book news and reviews, Chi Tong Kuok, China, CIA, Cold War, cryptology, Dick Cheney, ECHELON, Ernest Hemingway, FBI, German Democratic Republic, Germany, Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung, intelligence oversight, Keith Alexander, KGB, Ministry for State Security (GDR), New Zealand, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Pakistan, Predator drones, SIGINT, Stasi (GDR), Taliban, telephony, UK-USA Security Agreement, UKUSA

Fears raised of Iranian-style surveillance in the US

July 2, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

NSN Logo

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Nokia Siemens Networks has denied allegations, published in The Wall Street Journal and reported by intelNews, that it helped the Iranian government acquire what experts describe as “one of the world’s most sophisticated mechanisms” for spying on Iranian telecommunications users. But critics remain unconvinced and are raising concerns about the use of similar intrusive capabilities by Internet service providers (ISPs) in the US. The Open Internet Coalition, a consortium of online business and consumer groups, has sent letters [.pdf] to US Congress members urging them to consider regulating the use of deep packet inspection technology. In addition to blocking or monitoring target communications, deep packet inspection enables ISPs and monitoring agencies to trace and alter the content of messages exchanged between users. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Charter Communications, civil liberties, communications interception, deep packet inspection, Finland, Germany, Internet, Iran, Iran Telecom, News, Nokia Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, Siemens AG, telecommunication service providers, telecommunications, The Open Internet Coalition, wireless communications interception

News you may have missed #0007

June 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

German counterintelligence chief accuses Russia of commercial spying. Burkhard Even, Germany’s director of counterintelligence at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has told German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag that Russian spies have intensified espionage operations on the German energy sector to help Russian firms gain commercial advantages. On May 26, intelNews reported on similar accusations by the German Association for Security in Industry and Commerce (ASW). Its director told Mitteldeutsche Zeitung that the targeting of German research and commercial enterprises by mainly Chinese and Russian agents is so extensive that it usually costs the German economy over €20 billion per year, and it may be costing as high as €50 billion per year since 2007.
Spanish intelligence agents kicked out of Cuba. Spanish newspaper ABC reports that the recently expelled officers of Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) were secretly recorded at Havana cocktail parties “making derogatory comments about the Castro brothers and other [Cuban] government officials”.
Proposed US bill would boost congressional oversight of covert spy programs. Key lawmakers in Washington have endorsed a proposed bill that would force the president to make fuller disclosure of covert spy programs. The legislation, which has already been approved by the House Intelligence Committee, would force the president to disclose classified operations to all members of Congress’ intelligence oversight panels.
Report claims CIA, Mossad scoring points against Hezbollah. A new report claims American and Israeli intelligence organizations have scored notable recent successes against Hezbollah, in places such as Azerbaijan, Egypt and Colombia.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Azerbaijan, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, Burkhard Even, CIA, Colombia, Cuba, economic espionage, Egypt, energy resources, Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany), Germany, Hezbollah, intelligence oversight, Lebanon, Mossad, National Intelligence Center (Spain), News, news you may have missed, Russia, Spain

Western companies help Tehran spy on protestors

June 22, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

NSN Logo

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Numerous celebratory articles have appeared recently in several blogs that praise Western Internet firms for “help[ing] out the pro-democracy movement inside [Iran]”. These articles overlook Tehran’s extremely powerful Internet and telephone spying capabilities, which experts describe as “one of the world’s most sophisticated mechanisms”. Moreover, as intelNews reported last April, the Iranian government acquired these mechanisms with the help of some of Europe’s leading telecommunications hardware and software manufacturers, who were all too happy to supply Tehran with advanced means to spy on its own people. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ben Roome, civil liberties, communications interception, deep packet inspection, Finland, Germany, Internet, Iran, Iran Telecom, News, Nokia Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, Siemens AG, telecommunication service providers, telecommunications, wireless communications interception

W. German cop behind fatal 1967 shooting was a spy, documents show

May 30, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
On June 2, 1967, West German police opened fire on leftist students demonstrating against a visit to Berlin by the Shah of Iran. One of the shots fired by the police killed student protester Benno Ohnesorg. His killing was dubbed in Germany “the shot that changed the republic”. It had a major role in radicalizing the West German student movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s and directly sparked the creation of the militant student organization Red Army Faction –also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group. But a group of researchers working at Germany’s Office of the Federal Commissioner Preserving the Records of the Ministry for State Security of the German Democratic Republic (BStU), led by archivist Marianne Birthler, now claim they have discovered that the West German police officer who fired the shot that killed Ohnesorg was actually an East German spy. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Baader-Meinhof Group, Benno Ohnesorg, BStU, Cold War, declassification, espionage, Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic, Germany, Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung, history, Karl-Heinz Kurras, Marianne Birthler, Ministry for State Security (GDR), Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, News, Office of the Federal Commissioner Preserving the Records of the Ministry for State Security of the German Democratic Republic, Otto Bohl, Red Army Faction, Stasi (GDR)

German security group sees rise in industrial, commercial spying

May 26, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A major German corporate security group has echoed recent warnings by the German government that foreign industrial and commercial espionage in Germany is on the increase. Last week, the general manager of the German Association for Security in Industry and Commerce (ASW), Dr. Berthold Stoppelkamp, told German newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung that the targeting of German research and commercial enterprises by mainly Chinese and Russian agents is so extensive that it usually costs the German economy over €20 billion per year, and it may be costing as high as €50 billion per year since 2007. Dr. Stoppelkamp said that, although these covert activities are government-managed, they aim to assist individual Chinese or Russian firms competing against German companies for international contracts. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Berthold Stoppelkamp, China, corporate espionage, economic espionage, German Association for Security in Industry and Commerce, German Ministry of the Interior, Germany, industrial espionage, News, Russia

Western companies sold phone spy equipment to Iran

April 15, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
For about a year now, political dissidents in Iran have suspected that the Iranian government’s ability to spy on private communications has intensified, covering for the first time cell phone and instant messaging exchanges. Last Monday it emerged that two European telecommunications hardware manufacturers are actually behind the Iranian government’s increased surveillance capabilities. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) sold Iran Telecom –Iran’s government-owned telecommunications provider– a sophisticated surveillance system, in the summer of 2008. NSN is an engineering partnership between Finland’s Nokia Corporation and German hardware manufacturer Siemens AG, Europe’s largest engineering firm. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ben Roome, civil liberties, communications interception, Finland, Germany, Iran, Iran Telecom, News, Nokia Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, Siemens AG, telecommunication service providers, telecommunications, wireless communications interception

Researchers discover gigantic cyberespionage operation

March 31, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Ronald Deibert

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A team of Canadian researchers claims to have discovered a large cyberespionage ring located mainly in China. The researchers say the ring has managed to infiltrate nearly 1,300 mainly government and corporate computers in at least 103 countries around the world. The report, entitled Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network, was compiled after a ten-month collaboration between Ottawa’s SecDev group and the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Although the report concludes that the cyberespionage ring is located mainly in China, it specifically rejects claims that GhostNet is inevitably a Chinese government operation, saying that there is no evidence that Beijing is behind the operation. University of Toronto associate professor Ronald Deibert suggested that the operation could potentially be the work of non-state pro-Chinese actors, or could be conducted by a profit-oriented group that sells the acquired information to whoever offers it the highest monetary compensation. “It’s a murky realm that we’re lifting the lid on”, said Dr. Deibert: “This could well be the CIA or the Russians”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, China, computer hacking, cyberespionage, Cyprus, Germany, GhostNet, India, Indonesia, Iran, Latvia, Munk Centre for International Studies, News, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Ronald J. Deibert, SecDev Group, Tibet, Tibetan government in exile, University of Toronto

German authorities arrest two on espionage charges

March 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
German federal authorities have announced the arrest of two men, one German and one Macedonian, who passed German classified information to the governments of Kosovo and Macedonia. Anton Robert K., 42, and Murat A., 28, were arrested in the German city of Stuttgart last Tuesday. Germany’s Federal Prosecution office alleges that German citizen “Anton Robert K.” regularly supplied “Murat A.” with sensitive German government documents during 2007 and 2008, while he served in Germany’s diplomatic mission in the Kosovar capital Pristina. “Murat A.” then allegedly gave the documents to organized crime syndicates as well as “state actors” in Kosovo and Macedonia. The Macedonian is alleged to have “intelligence ties” with both countries, but no other information about him has yet emerged. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with BND, espionage, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia, News, Stuttgart

NATO spy convicted by Estonian court

February 27, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Herman Simm

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Herman Simm, the Estonian spy who handed classified NATO material to Russia, has been convicted to 12.5 years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay $1.6 million for damages he caused while spying for the Russians. Simm, a high-level official at the Estonian defense ministry, who once headed the country’s National Security Authority, was arrested last November along with his wife and charged with spying for Russia for over 10 years. At the time of his arrest, Simm’s spying activities were described by Western counterintelligence officials as perhaps “the most serious case of espionage against NATO since the end of the Cold War”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with BND, double agents, espionage, Estonia, Germany, Herman Simm, NATO, News, Russia, Sergei Yakovlev, SVR (Russia), US Missile Defense Shield, Valery Zentsov

Comment: EU wants to intercept encrypted VOIP communications

February 25, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

By IAN ALLEN| intelNews.org |
Italian authorities are taking the initiative in a European Union (EU)-wide effort to terminate the tacit immunity of voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) communications from authorized interception. Italy’s delegation to Eurojust, an EU coordination body tasked with combating transnational organized crime, issued a statement last weekend, promising to spearhead a project to “overcome the technical and judicial obstacles to the interception of internet telephony systems”. The statement contains several references to Skype, a Luxembourg-based VOIP provider that has so far reportedly refused to share its communications encryption system with government authorities. Because of this, the latter have accused Skype of providing organized crime syndicates with the ability to communicate without fear of their messages being intercepted.

Britain says at least 20 countries spying on it

February 9, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper has revealed a government report, which states that the UK is a “high priority espionage target” for “at least 20 foreign intelligence services”. The report, issued to UK government departments on January 19, 2009, warns against overlooking traditional espionage threats while focusing almost solely on the activities of al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups. Authored by a group of British Army Intelligence Corps officers, the report identifies Chinese and Russian espionage networks as the most active on British soil, and discloses that “[t]he number of Russian intelligence officers in London has not fallen since the Soviet times”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with British Army Intelligence Corps, China, counterintelligence, economic espionage, France, Germany, Iran, News, North Korea, Russia, Serbia, Syria, UK

Unprecedented German tax scandal has intelligence connection

January 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Heinrich Kieber

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Klaus Zumwinkel was until recently the CEO of Deutsche Post, Germany’s now-privatized postal company, which is said to be the world’s largest logistics corporation. Early yesterday morning, Zumwinkel was given a two-year suspended sentence and fined €1 million for systematically evading taxes “with criminal energy”, as the presiding judge put it. The disgraced former CEO is thus far the highest-profile offender in what has become the largest financial crime scandal in German history. The affair involves nearly 1,000 names of wealthy investors, celebrities, and business executives, linked to illegal fund deposits at LLB and LGT Group, two “no-questions-asked” banks owned by the Royal family of the tiny alpine tax haven of Liechtenstein. What is perhaps less known is that the investigation, which now incorporates thousands of individuals in at least a dozen countries, began through a tip received by Germany’s foreign intelligence service. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008 Liechtenstein tax affair, Australia, BND, Deutsche Post AG, economic espionage, Germany, Heinrich Kieber, informants, Interpol, Klaus Zumwinkel, LGT Group, Liechtenstein, Liechtensteinische Landesbank, News

Estonian sleeper agent may have been double spy, say Germans

December 15, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment

Herman Simm

Last month, Estonian counterintelligence agents arrested Herman Simm, a high-level official at the Estonian defense ministry, on charges that he spied on behalf of Russian intelligence for nearly 30 years. At the time, Western counterintelligence officials said Simm, who was in charge of handling all of Estonia’s “classified and top secret material on NATO”, was at the center of “the most serious case of espionage against NATO since the end of the Cold War”. But the complexity of this espionage affair has now increased, with German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reporting that Simm was also a paid informant of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany’s foreign intelligence service. Read more of this post