Central office for information technology in the security area

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Central Office for Information Technology in the Security
Sector - ZITiS -

Central office for information technology in the security sector logo.svg
State level Federation
position not legally responsible Bundesanstalt
Supervisory authority Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs
founding April 6, 2017
Headquarters Munich , Bavaria
Authority management Wilfried Karl , President
Servants 100 (as of April 2019)
Budget volume 36,721,000 euros (2019)
Web presence www.zitis.bund.de
ZITiS headquarters at Zamdorfer Straße 88 in Munich

The Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector ( ZITiS ) is an unincorporated federal agency in the division of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs, based in Munich with 100 employees (April 2019). ZITiS has the task of supporting and advising federal authorities with security tasks with regard to IT skills. To this end, the Central Office develops and researches methods and tools.

General

ZITiS was founded by decree of 6 April 2017 (GMBl 2017, p. 274). It does not perform any tasks for the police or intelligence services itself and has no powers of intervention. These remain with the consumer authorities, which are currently the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Police (BPOL).

ZITiS is currently located in the commercial area on Zamdorfer Straße in the eastern Munich district of Bogenhausen . A new research institute building with 17,500 m² of floor space is to be built on the premises of the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich (UniBw M) in Neubiberg by 2023 . It is to be built and operated in cooperation with the Cyber ​​Defense research institute of UniBw M "CODE".

The federal government is planning the ZITiS as a research and development center with a focus on digital forensics , telecommunications surveillance , cryptanalysis , big data evaluation and technical issues relating to the fight against crime , threat and espionage . The founding of ZITiS had been criticized by the Greens and the Left in advance as a “blank check on an extremely delicate area under constitutional law” ( Konstantin von Notz , Greens) and “opaque and uncontrolled apparatus” ( Martina Renner , Left).

In 2018 it became known that the agency was planning a "supercomputer" for cryptanalysis. For the first steps towards the construction of a high-performance computer, funds of 3.10 million euros were / are planned in the 2018 federal budget and a further 2.15 million euros in 2019. It is planned to acquire a quantum computer together with the research institute CODE of the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich as soon as they have reached stable market maturity, which is not foreseeable in time.

On December 19, 2019, the Bundestag rejected an application by the Die Linke parliamentary group to dissolve ZITiS with effect from January 31, 2020.

Personnel and budget development

In December 2018, ZITiS had 62 employees, 8 of them in the management area including management staff, 26 people in the administrative area and 28 positions for specialist staff with degrees in MINT subjects . Of the 62 employees, 33 were civil servants and 29 collective bargaining employees , 36 male and 26 female. 4 employees were previously employed by the Federal Armed Forces and 13 people were employed by the Federal Intelligence Service , but none at the BfV or the BSI . 34 people had successfully completed an application process and were waiting to be hired.

2022. ZITiS to 400 staff positions include. Initially, the 2017 federal budget planned a staffing level of 120 posts and a material budget of 10 million euros. In the 2018 budget, 150 posts (target) and 29.128 million euros in material resources were planned.

The ZITiS offers the possibility of study funding for the courses in " Computer Science " and "Cyber ​​Security" at the University of the Armed Forces in Munich.

The special working conditions in this federal agency are emphasized on its own website: “ZITiS is the start-up among the authorities. As a new, young organization, ZITiS is not permeated by regulations and hierarchies, but it offers all the advantages of a public employer. ”A strikingly“ youthful, dynamic ”tone is used throughout:“ We are welcome to do without a tie and collar. We appreciate flexibility and uncomplicated handling. Anything that should be changed is discussed in an open dialogue on an equal footing and implemented where possible and sensible. "

organization

President ( Bundesbesoldungsordnung BesGrp B 5) is the former head of the TA department of the BND, Wilfried Karl. Vice President (salary group B 2) has been the former managing director of the management academy of the Federal Employment Agency and head of HR at its headquarters in Nuremberg, Hans-Christian Witthauer , since November 1, 2018 . He heads the "Central Services" and "Consulting and IT Services" departments. In addition, there is the management staff and the four business areas subordinate to the President:

  • Digital Forensics (Head: Christian Hummert)
  • TKÜ (Head: Dirk Lageveen)
  • Cryptanalysis (Head: Axel Treßel)
  • Big Data: (Head: Jochen Dahlke)

All six areas mentioned are further subdivided into sections, the four subordinate to the President respectively into "Projects", "Research", "Senior Experts" and "Services".

ZITiS Advisory Board

The ZITiS itself and the consumer authorities (BKA, BfV, BPOL) are represented on the ZITiS Advisory Board. By granting guest status on the ZITiS advisory board, they can also allow other federal authorities to participate in the results of the ZITiS activities. Guest status in the ZITiS advisory board currently have (as of December 2018):

The BMI also participates as a supervisory authority and approves the agreed annual program. The latter is prepared by ZITiS together with the users. The authorities are represented on the advisory board by their respective heads (at the BMI: CI department head) or by persons designated by them.

collaboration

In addition to the consumers and the guests on the ZITiS advisory board, the office maintains an established relationship with the following research institutions:

Further connections are to be established.

control

ZITiS is not an intelligence service and is therefore subject to general parliamentary control and not to the responsibilities of the parliamentary control body (PKGr) regulated in the law on parliamentary control of federal intelligence activities (PKGrG ). Furthermore, ZITiS is subject to legal and technical supervision by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, control by the Federal Audit Office and by the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information . There is also judicial and public control.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ZITiS - News - ZITiS celebrates 100th employee. In: www.zitis.bund.de. ZITiS, April 2, 2019, archived from the original on October 16, 2019 ; accessed on October 16, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Budget Act 2019. (PDF) In: www.bundestag.de. German Bundestag, August 10, 2018, pp. 711–714; 842 f. , accessed December 15, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Answer to the short question from the DIE LINKE parliamentary group - printed matter 19/5469 - structure and activity of the Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector. (PDF) In: www.bundestag.de. German Bundestag, December 4, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Editorial network Germany : Greens want to prevent Zitis. The Greens are threatening Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière with a constitutional lawsuit against the planned Zitis spy agency. In: www.goettinger-tageblatt.de. Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack, November 22, 2016, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Starting signal for ZITiS. 400 positions planned by 2022 in the Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector (ZITiS) in Munich. In: www.bmi.bund.de. Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs, January 20, 2016, accessed on December 15, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Andre Meister: 36 million euros: ZITiS builds supercomputers for decryption. In: netzpolitik.org. netzpolitik.org e. V., October 16, 2018, accessed on December 15, 2018 (The heading suggests that 36 million euros are earmarked for a "supercomputer". Rather, it is the total budget of ZITiS 2019.).
  7. ↑ Federal authority Zitis is not dissolved. German Bundestag - Text Archive, December 19, 2019, accessed on December 20, 2019 .
  8. ↑ New security agency Zitis - Federal hackers move to Munich. In: www.spiegel.de. SPIEGEL ONLINE, January 20, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Security authority: Zitis is supposed to crack Whatsapp from Munich. In: golem.de. Golem, January 20, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  10. ↑ ZITiS - Working at ZITiS. Retrieved December 24, 2018 .
  11. ^ Ronen Steinke: Wilfried Karl. Profile. In: www.sueddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 13, 2018, accessed on December 15, 2018 .
  12. ↑ ZITiS organization chart. (PDF) In: www.zitis.bund.de. ZITiS, July 18, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  13. ↑ ZITiS - News - ZITiS is a member of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In: www.zitis.bund.de. ZITiS, April 12, 2019, archived from the original on October 16, 2019 ; accessed on October 16, 2019 .