BERLIN (Reuters) - Russian spies are targeting the German energy sector to help Russian firms gain commercial advantages, the head of Germany's domestic counter-espionage unit said Sunday.
"The Russian intelligence services, keeping up with their government's changing information needs, have intensified efforts in recent years to investigate German firms illegally," Burkhard Even, told Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The director of Counter-Intelligence at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said the spying was aimed mostly at information on alternative and renewable energy and efforts to increase efficiency. European energy interests, diversification plans, and Germany's economic situation were also espionage targets.
Last month Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also noted, when presenting his ministry's 2008 security report, that Russia and China were stepping up espionage efforts and Internet attacks on German companies.
"The Russian intelligence services, keeping up with their government's changing information needs, have intensified efforts in recent years to investigate German firms illegally," Burkhard Even, told Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The director of Counter-Intelligence at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said the spying was aimed mostly at information on alternative and renewable energy and efforts to increase efficiency. European energy interests, diversification plans, and Germany's economic situation were also espionage targets.
Last month Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also noted, when presenting his ministry's 2008 security report, that Russia and China were stepping up espionage efforts and Internet attacks on German companies.
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