2023-04-23 07:20:40
Status: 04/23/2023 09:20 a.m
In Massachusetts, a young US soldier leaked numerous secret documents – including explosive material on the war in Ukraine. The case shows deficiencies in security. Would that also be possible in Germany?
It took only a few days after the leak became public for the US authorities to catch the alleged perpetrator. In the end it was different than initially suspected: it was not a US secret service employee who circulated the partly secret material, but a 21-year-old soldier who is on duty with the National Guard in Massachusetts and has access to classified documents .
In fact, one wonders above all why there is classified material on the Ukraine war at this location. It is quite conceivable that the Pentagon will now check the distribution list for such documents again.
At the Federal Intelligence Service, one or the other may have followed the US leak with a certain amount of satisfaction. After all, the BND, the German foreign intelligence service, is still reeling from its own most recent scandal: a senior BND employee was arrested in December. The Attorney General accuses Carsten L. of having passed on secret material to the Russian secret service FSB.
Painful case for the BND
A traitor in your own ranks who works for an opposing secret service is the worst case scenario for any intelligence service. The incident was correspondingly bitter for the BND. BND boss Bruno Kahl called him “embarrassing” in an interview with the RBB and announced an extensive review of security measures within the service.
The investigations of the Attorney General are not yet complete, but according to everything that has become known so far, Carsten L. is said to have handed over material in paper form as well as photographed material to an intermediary.
The case made the BND painfully aware of the state of security in their own home. And in two respects: On the one hand, safety regulations were not observed, because Carsten L. was apparently able to take his private cell phone to the office – which the staff is forbidden to do – and use it to photograph material. If you urgently need to be reachable, you can use a company cell phone with the camera function deactivated for precisely this reason.
Case-independent bag checks do not take place, so Carsten L. was apparently also able to take material out of the office. So far, such controls are not permitted in the BND. Carsten L. was not the first case of this kind: Markus R., also a BND employee who had been recruited by the US secret service CIA, was busted in 2014. He had passed on BND material to the Americans for years.
There are also secret documents in the government apparatus
At the same time, the question arises as to the security checks of employees in the BND. The last review of Carsten L. took a total of four years – which was partly due to the corona situation. But it also shows that the review seems to have failed again and again.
On duty, L. is said to have attracted attention with statements that suggest that his loyalty to the constitution was not in good order. However, this had no consequences.
The case shows that it is not at all impossible to steal secret material from a German security agency if you are determined to do so. In principle, every security system is just as safe as it is consistently applied.
But there are secret documents not only in security agencies, but in the entire government apparatus – especially in the chancellery and in the foreign, defense and interior ministries. In addition, also in the parliamentary space, for example in the control bodies for the intelligence services, where the members of parliament regularly receive classified information. Anyone who betrays them is liable to prosecution.
Not even taking notes
For security reasons, all cell phones must be returned before the session begins. However, no classified documents are distributed there. For years, the parliamentary control body, but also the trust body of the Bundestag, which decides on the budget for the intelligence services, has had the reputation that nothing remains secret that is presented there. The same applies to committees of inquiry.
When it comes to viewing classified documents, more stringent conditions may apply if the relevant authority deems this necessary. To do this, the MPs have to go to the Bundestag’s security agency, where not only are mobile phones banned, but you are also not even allowed to take notes.
In the parliamentary room, too, staff who have access to classified meetings or classified material must undergo a security clearance. The addressees for classified documents or information are often the media – regardless of where those who circulate them are located. The reasons for this are very different. From the need to draw attention to grievances to the urge to show off and pomposity, everything is there.
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