Vaka
The Kingdom of Norway
- Sep 26, 2020
- 1,091
| TYPE | Infrastructure |
| COUNTRY | Germany |
| PROJECT | The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and Main Headquarters in Berlin |
| PROJECT COST | 4,000,000,000.00 |
| COMPLETION DATE | 01/03/2021 |
| PROJECT INFORMATION | The Federal Intelligence Service (German: Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and will be the world's largest intelligence headquarters. In 1997, it will employ approx 6,500 people; 10% of them are military personnel who are formally employed by the Office for Military Sciences. The BND will act as an early warning system to alert the German government to threats to German interests from abroad. It depends heavily on wiretapping and electronic surveillance of international communications. It collects and evaluates information on a variety of areas such as international non-state terrorism, weapons of mass destruction proliferation and illegal transfer of technology, organized crime, weapons and drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal migration and information warfare. As Germany's only overseas intelligence service, the BND gathers both military and civil intelligence. The Main Headquarters is a massive limestone and aluminum-fronted complex that covers 10 hectares (25 acres). Decorated with steel palm trees, the BND headquarters sits right where the Berlin Wall used to bisect the city. The move signals a major symbolic change for Germany, no longer shying away from taking a prominent role on the global stage. Following the decision to build the new BND headquarters in Berlin, a massive urban renewal has taken place in the neighborhood, with many new construction projects opposite the BND headquarters, including high-end apartment buildings, a new park, the Café Top Secret, a new hotel, and buildings housing office spaces and retail stores. The headquarters includes a visitor center that is open to the public; it is the first intelligence organisation to have such a center. Inside the Main Headquarters Security will be of the highest regard and was purpose built to be the most secure facility in Germany. No mobile phones. No private laptops. No checking personal emails or social media. And at the end of the day, all access cards must be locked in a safe. The work spaces within the complex will all have the latest German Electronic counter-countermeasures installed to prevent foreign interference of any kind. The BND is divided into the following directorates: 1. Regional Evaluation and Procurement 2. International Terrorism and Organized Crime 3. Proliferation, Arms trade, NBC Weapons, Defense Technology 4. Signal Intelligence 5. Situation Centre and 6. Supporting Specialized Services 7. Central Services 8. Information Technology 9. Security In addition to Federal Intelligence Service military and surveillance equipment, the department will have a major focus on Information Technology. Huge server banks capable of storing Petabytes of classified information will be available to the BND . Technical hacking equipment used in breaking into encrypted networks will also be available to BND IT personnel. As well as Offensive IT hardware, the latest in defensive firewall technology will be used in order to keep the data stored on the BND servers from falling in to unauthorized hands. The BND will employee 300 clandestine and covert operatives tasked with gathering intelligence along with the ability to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the Federal Republic of Germany will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly. |
| PRIVATE / ENCRYPTED | Yes |
