German Military Trains Special Unit of Cyberwarriors

The German military is training a special unit of cyberwarriors with the ability to scout out and destroy foreign computer networks, according to a Spiegel Online report.

This unit, known as the Department of Information and Computer Network Operations, operates under the command of Friedrich Wilhelm Kriesel, a brigadier general and the head of the Bundeswehr Strategic Reconnaissance Unit. Seventy-six of the hackers in uniform under Kriesel’s command have already been secluded in the Tomburg barracks near Bonn to test out the latest methods for infiltrating, exploring, manipulating and destroying computer networks.

The Internet has developed into a virtual battlefield. Computer networks play such a vital role in modern warfare that one devastating digital attack could almost cripple a nation’s military.

Just two years ago, German government databases were digitally attacked from servers based in the Lanzhou province in China. This attack was one of the major motivating factors rousing the German military to organize a cyberforce capable of protecting its information networks.

In addition to being able to protect German networks, however, this unit of cyberwarriors is also able to use their technical expertise to undermine the computer networks of other nations. On February 3, General Kriesel gave a proud report on his unit’s electronic surveillance successes in Afghanistan to chiefs of staff for the German military. Sometime next year, Kriesel’s unit will be asked to demonstrate its capabilities by performing a simulated cyberattack on a real world target.

In the United States, experts have been warning for years that technological dependence is the nation’s Achilles heel and that an “electronic Pearl Harbor” is a dangerous possibility. An Intelligence Digest report written over a decade ago by Joseph de Courcy stated that “One growing concern to Western security authorities is the expanding, semi-underground, network of young computer hackers in Germany.”

This new unit of German cyberwarriors could pose a major security threat to American security and information systems in the future. To understand this threat in detail, read “America’s Achilles Heel—and Germany” by editor in chief Gerald Flurry.