'We can't defend ourselves against the NSA'

[FarCenter]

When faced with the capacities of the NSA, counterintelligence can be difficult, says secret service expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom in an interview with DW.

DW: What is the National Security Agency (NSA) capable of - or rather, what can't they do?

Erich Schmidt-Eenboom: The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Bonn attempts to protect government communication. It is responsible for encryption technology, not only for the chancellor but also for the ministers, state secretaries, all government agencies. But all the IT experts in Germany agree that it's nearly impossible to defend against the massive capacities of the NSA and its advanced technology. If they want to break through the encryption somewhere, then they can do it. Their orders come from the White House; the president decides what intelligence objectives are to be pursued. In this respect, it's not really an NSA scandal, but an Obama scandal.

Who is responsible for counterintelligence in Germany?

For counterintelligence, the monitoring of the activities of foreign intelligence services in Germany, it's the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) that's responsible. The technical security of government communications is the responsibility of the BSI, which attempts to protect communication with the appropriate encryption. Since the beginning of the last century, we have actually experienced a constant race between encryption and decryption experts. And that has mostly worked in the favor of those who want to access data, in this case the NSA.

Would you say that the BfV and the BSI do their job well?

From a technical standpoint, the BSI is certainly world-class. Concerning the BfV, there are also political demands. And until now there hasn't been any political direction to defend the country from all sides. Counterintelligence must become more active in every direction - even in the West, with an emphasis on the US and Britain.

http://www.dw.de/we-cant-defend-ourselves-against-the-nsa/a-17184525