Handelsblatt38 minutes agoDefense3 min readGermanyView original

Massive IT failure in the Bundeswehr: reservist data affected

A serious error at the IT company BWI has been paralyzing systems for reservists for over a week; the Defense Ministry rules out a cyber attack.

Bundeswehr bwi it failure

Quick Look

A massive IT failure at BWI has been affecting the Bundeswehr's work for over a week.
Around 60,000 reservists have no access to their data.
The Ministry of Defense cites operational reasons instead of a cyber attack as the cause.

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Why It Matters

BWI is the Bundeswehr's IT service provider and has been the sole property of the federal government since 2016. She is responsible for modernizing the armed forces' IT infrastructure.

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Berlin. The Bundeswehr is struggling with a massive IT failure. According to information from Handelsblatt, the federally owned IT company BWI suffered a serious breakdown. It affects all reservists and has been going on for more than a week. In the event of a defense, this would have serious consequences.

Insiders cite statements from the Bundeswehr's operational command. Afterwards, during a mass data import, all data records of the reservists who were not currently called up are said to have been deleted. The Bundeswehr currently has around 60,000 non-active soldiers.

The users of civilian workplaces would no longer have access to the BWI's computers, it said. Access to the Bundeswehr messenger and the eToken system, which is used to book train tickets, have been deactivated.

The problems have existed since the beginning of last week. There is no information yet, soldiers said. Those affected would no longer have access to data or emails. In the case of defense, this would be “a catastrophe,” it was said.

Experts wonder why it is taking so long to fix the error. The “Active Directory”, the “brain” of the Microsoft-based network, is obviously affected. “If I have a regulated procedure, then I would have to know where my backup is and how I can easily restore it,” said David Zellhöfer, a computer science professor at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. This would normally be practiced beforehand. “Then everything will be fine again.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (BMVg) said: “The BMVg is aware of malfunctions in individual IT systems.” The causes and effects were “processed through the designated processes and reporting channels” in the ministry. When asked, he denied that it was a cyber attack and that data had been leaked. Rather, he cited “operational reasons as the cause”. Accordingly, there were “no data outflows or third-party accesses”.

CDU security politician Roderich Kiesewetter warned of the consequences of the IT breakdown for Germany's defense capability. “The incident shows that we are not fully operational and capable of defending ourselves if central elements of the leadership and command capabilities do not function or are vulnerable to disruptions or cyber attacks,” Kiesewetter told Handelsblatt.

A BWI spokesman spoke of an “impairment due to updates to the processing systems”. As a result, individual data sets cannot currently be accessed, he told the Handelsblatt. The BWI is in the process of restoring access. “We assume that this problem will be resolved in a timely manner.”

Kiesewetter complained that the IT problems were “symptomatic of the lack of modern structures in procurement, innovation and adaptation processes”. This is also evident in problems with digital radio and in the implementation of modern requirements for artificial intelligence and digitalization.

Kiesewetter is particularly critical of the impact on the reserve. Reservists are “particularly important” for the “Bundeswehr’s ability to grow” and the functioning of the Operational Plan for Germany (OPLAN). “There is not only a lack of staff and equipment here, but also simply a lack of secure communication structures.”

Just at the beginning of the week, the managing director of the federally owned company BWI announced that he wanted to award contracts worth “more than ten billion euros”. Bernhard Günther said this in an interview with Handelsblatt. In view of the changing times, the BWI cannot cope with the tasks ahead on its own. “We have to double sales per employee within five years.” This cannot be done with automation alone. Therefore, the proportion of external services increases from 50 to 70 percent.

“Bundes-Wehr und Industrie” GmbH was founded in 2006 to modernize and standardize the IT infrastructure of the armed forces together with Siemens and IBM. The company has been solely owned by the federal government since 2016. Since then, BWI has been the Bundeswehr's de facto IT service provider. BWI also works for the German intelligence services. There are no customers from the private sector.