On Tuesday, the German government announced the appointment of a European Central Bank head of IT systems to head the country’s cyber security agency, This comes months after removing her predecessor following reports about a potentially troublesome connection with Russia.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Claudia Plattner ” brings the experience and expertise with her that we need for cyber security in these particularly challenging times “. She is to assume responsibility of the agencys BSI July 1, becoming the first woman to hold that position.
Faeser fired the BSIs previous boss, Arne Schoenbohm, in October. He had been running the institution since 2016. Schoenbohm had co-founded the Cyber security Group ten years earlier, which brought together experts from government agencies and the private sector.
German media reported that one of its members was a firm founded by a former Russian intelligence operative. The group said last week it had kicked out the company. The interior ministry said last fall the allegations had “damaged the necessary confidence among the public of the neutrality and impartiality” of the Schoenbohm leadership. Schoenbohm has defended himself against the allegations.
He has since taken up a new post, head of a different institution, the federal public administration academy, which is controlled by the interior ministry. Plattner worked at German rail operator Deutsche Bahns IT supplier, DB Systel, before joining the ECB in July 2021. The central bank, which is based in Frankfurt, said it will name the successor “in due course”.
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Author: Associated Press