Berlin. The Bavarian Ministry of Science is planning a large-scale survey of its research institutions to find out how they protect their research and knowledge from espionage and knowledge leakage. To this end, the state sent a questionnaire to each facility. The document is available to the Handelsblatt.
Espionage cases, proximity to China, connections to Russia: German universities have been exposed to a number of dangers for several years. Most recently in the spring, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office announced that it had arrested two suspected spies. They are said to have tried to obtain sensitive knowledge for China at the technical universities in Munich and Aachen.
In mid-June, the Handelsblatt reported on the proximity of the Helmholtz Center for Information Security (Cispa) in Saarbrücken to the People's Republic - and shortly afterwards on a critical drone cooperation between the Technical University of Munich and a military-affiliated university in China, which in turn is closely linked to a military research facility in Moscow.
In the Cispa case, the CSU-led Federal Research Ministry reacted harshly and appointed Alexander Geschonneck and his forensic team from the auditing firm KPMG as special auditors. In the case of the Technical University of Munich, however, leading CSU politicians initially reacted defensively. Prime Minister Markus Söder even explained: "There is a high level of sensitivity. Our universities are also keeping an eye on this."
The country obviously has no overview of the security situation yet. The questionnaire is entitled: “Knowledge security – initial survey at research institutions”. Universities often rely on their autonomy and constitutionally protected academic freedom and reject political influence.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has long been warning about scientific espionage in the case of China, for example. The country obtains technology and know-how through intelligence networks, but also “in predominantly legal ways” – through scientific exchange and cooperation programs with German universities and top research institutions. “Chinese authorities are specifically exploiting legal gray areas, a lack of risk awareness and academic academic freedom in Germany,” is how the Office for the Protection of the Constitution describes the situation.
Bavaria would like to find out how many staff the universities use to comply with regulations, such as export controls. The state also wants to know whether knowledge security is strategically anchored at the university, whether it follows a guiding principle that is decided by committees and concretely implemented by people. The state officials also want to know whether there is an active commission for ethics and security-related research, who is responsible and whether the institution networks with other universities, security authorities or associations.
The Ministry of Science also asks whether the institutions carry out risk assessments “for collaborations, personnel, publications or business trips” and, if so, how. “Do you have standardized risk assessment procedures specifically for international cooperation?” is one question. Another: “Do you use special tools or databases for testing?” And: “Are there procedures for protecting intellectual property in international collaborations?”
The ministry is interested in how universities specifically protect themselves, how they deal with identified risks, whether there are established procedures and whether there is ongoing review even after collaborations have been approved.
But that's not all: “Are there special protection measures for sensitive research data, unpublished research results or strategically relevant knowledge against cyber attacks, unauthorized access or data leakage?” asks the ministry. Research data could be classified, emails encrypted and cyber risks taken into account in collaborations, projects and business trips. The ministry is even interested in the question of whether security incidents are recorded and evaluated and what countermeasures are derived.
The domestic intelligence service advises to be particularly careful with collaborations and international personnel. “Before entering into a research collaboration or hiring new employees, the cooperation partners or applicants should be examined in detail and possible channels for the outflow of knowledge and technology should be identified and closed in advance,” recommends the authority.
Figures from the University Rectors' Conference (HRK) show how important security measures are. Accordingly, despite the war in Ukraine, there are still 456 collaborations between German universities and Russian institutions. According to the HRK University Compass, there are 1,221 collaborations with China. 25 of them alone have been concluded with the country's most important military universities, the so-called “Seven Sons”.
According to Kompass, Bavarian universities also cooperate with military universities in China. This includes not only the Technical University of Munich, but also smaller universities such as Augsburg, Bayreuth, Passau and Regensburg. According to HRK data, a total of eight technical universities nationwide work with “Sevens Sons” facilities.
In view of the survey of research institutions, the situation for the state government now appears to be different. Since each professor is responsible, the ministry also asked whether the universities carry out training and whether the effectiveness of the awareness raising is checked.
The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, which is responsible for export permits, says that since research institutes and universities play “a key role in protecting research and its results,” it is “essential to strengthen their awareness of this shared responsibility.” At the same time, the office admits that the control processes are lengthy. At universities there is talk of “nine to twelve months”.
