Can We Work From Home?

If we live in Russia too?

Germany’s would-be spies seek licence to work from home – BND intelligence service is finding expectations of flexible working and taking a mobile to the office are affecting recruitment.

“Remote work is barely possible at the BND for security reasons, and not being able to take your cell phone to work is asking much from young people looking for a job.”

Was It Information About Tanks?

Tank goodness we have intelligence services.

German arrested for allegedly passing on intelligence to Russia – A German citizen was arrested at the Munich airport on suspicion of treason for allegedly colluding with an intelligence service employee to pass on intelligence to Russia, the prosecutor general’s office said on Thursday.

The man, identified as Arthur E., was arrested on Sunday upon arriving in Germany from the United States, the prosecutor said in a statement. He is said to be an associate of Carsten L., an employee of the German foreign intelligence service (BND) who was arrested in December on suspicion of spying for Russia.

German Of The Day: Maulwurf

That means mole.

German politicians hail capture of suspected Russian ‘mole’ – The capture of an alleged Russian spy in Germany’s intelligence agencies has been called a “wake-up call” by politicians who are concerned by the threat of hybrid warfare.

“The fact that there are Russian espionage activities in Germany is well known and hardly surprising. But if now even in the ranks of the BND an employee is said to have spied for Russia, then this would be a completely new and frightening quality. Of course, this also raises the question of the effectiveness of the BND’s own security.”

My Car Is Spying On Me

No, that’s not from a Philip K. Dick novel.

It’s bitter reality. In German minds, anyway.

Tesla cars have been banned by police in the German capital Berlin over spying fears sparked by the vehicles’ high-tech cameras.

The ban comes just a day after China banned all Teslas from a resort town where the country’s secretive leadership group is holding a conference.

German Of The Day: Politologe

That means political scientist.

Or in this case, Chinese spy.

A retired German political scientist has been charged with spying for China for almost a decade, using the political contacts he developed while working for a think tank, the German federal prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

It said the man, identified as Klaus L. according to German reporting custom, had been recruited during a lecture trip to Shanghai in 2010, almost 10 years after joining the think tank, and had regularly passed on information until November 2019, in return for money and trips to China.

Artificial Outrage

And they’re not very good at it either. The Germans, this time along with the French, are doing their “friends don’t spy on friends” routine again.

France and Germany are “seeking full clarity” on a report claiming that one of Denmark’s intelligence agencies helped the United States spy on several senior European officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday.

Just so you know who you’re dealing with, here are just a handful of the German cases of friends spying on friends I’ve collected over the years:

NSA May Possibly Not Have Been The Very First Intelligence Agency Ever To Spy On Other Government Officials

N-S-A, B-N-D, Spy-On-You-And-Me

“Spying Among Friends Is Never Acceptable”

“Friends Don’t Spy On Friends”

More “Friends Don’t Spy On Friends”

German Spies Don’t Spy On Friends

More Friends Don’t Spy On Friends Again

More Friends Don’t Spy On Friends Stuff

“A Global Hub For Pandemic And Epidemic Intelligence?”

Good Lord. Is there any way one could make that sound any creepier?

“Ve must immediately pass this on to the Zentrale in Berlin!”

WHO, Germany launch new global hub for pandemic and epidemic intelligence – The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Federal Republic of Germany will establish a new global hub for pandemic and epidemic intelligence, data, surveillance and analytics innovation. The Hub, based in Berlin and working with partners around the world, will lead innovations in data analytics across the largest network of global data to predict, prevent, detect prepare for and respond to pandemic and epidemic risks worldwide.

“I am delighted that WHO chose Berlin as its location and invite partners from all around the world to contribute to the WHO hub.”

Not To Worry

No story here. And certainly no “battleground.” When it comes to the Huawei 5G “issue,” Germany will do whatever China wants it to do.

China

Standing up and saying no to China’s communist leaders would only hurt their feelings – and German business prospects.

After Britain, Germany Emerges as Next 5G Battleground – Following Britain’s decision to ban Chinese tech firm Huawei from its 5G telecom network, Germany is emerging as the next potential battleground to check China’s expansion of influence in world affairs, which is increasingly seen as a serious challenge to democratic institutions worldwide.

“Does the chancellor really want to be the stumbling block preventing a united EU + transatlantic + 5Eyes stance?”

Germans Not Sure Who They Can Spy On Anymore

They can’t hardly spy on Germans anymore, at home and abroad. With foreigners here it’s not much better. And now…

Spies

German intelligence can’t spy on foreigners outside Germany – Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that monitoring the internet traffic of foreign nationals abroad by the BND intelligence agency partly breaches the constitution.

Sheesh. A lot of German spies are going to need therapy. And worst of all, it doesn’t really matter whether Germans do any spying or not, and they know it. Whenever anything real goes down the tip-offs always come from a “befreundeten Nachrichtendienst” (allied intelligence service) anyway. They never say who this service is because everybody already knows and they’d rather not talk about it.

“A secret service that wants to protect democracy cannot trample on important democratic freedoms.”

The Spy Who Left Me

Buried in the woods somewhere in West Germany thirty years ago.

Spy

Sophisticated Soviet spy radio discovered buried in former forest in Germany – Archaeologists digging for the remains of a Roman villa near the German city of Cologne have found a sophisticated Soviet spy radio that was buried there shortly before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The spy radio was buried inside a large metal box that was hermetically sealed with a rubber ring and metal screws. Although the radio’s batteries had run down after almost 30 years in the ground, the box hissed with inrushing air when it was opened…

The scientists suspect agents would have used the spy radio to send secret reports back to the Soviet Union about observation of the Jülich Nuclear Research Centre, about 6 miles (10 km) west of where it was found; or of the military air base at Nörvenich, about the same distance to the southeast, where U.S. Pershing nuclear missiles were based until 1995.