The German military’s new Cyber and Information Space Command (CIR) is up and running.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen put the CIR into service April 5, according to the German embassy in Washington, D.C. The command is designed to manage the German armed forces’ information technology systems and defend them against a growing number of online attacks from other countries.
“Foreign cyber attacks are no longer fiction but daily reality,” the embassy said in a statement. “They occur independent from peace, crises, conflict and war. Over 280,000 incidents that were classified as cyber attacks were noticed in the first two months of 2017. These include simple espionage, data theft, manipulation and interference.”
Lt. Gen. Ludwig Leinhos, who hails from the air force, leads the command, which has 260 staff members. By July, the CIR is slated to grow to 13,500 soldiers and civilian personnel as it takes over commands for strategic reconnaissance, information technology and geo-information.
The command’s current budget is 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion U.S.). That amount is expected to grow in 2018 “to further develop and invest in this area,” the embassy said.
Vice Adm. Andreas Krause, chief of the German navy, called the new command “a great thing” while speaking April 6 at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C.