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Organisation

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The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) is organised into specialised departments and departments for operational support and service, with the latter assisting the former in performing their duties.

Departments fulfilling specialised tasks

On the basis of BfV’s statutory mission, its specialised departments collect and analyse information on extremist and terrorist structures.
The organisations and groups monitored by BfV include ones from the fields of

Because of their tasks, the specialised departments are organised into operational units, which gather relevant information, and analytical units, which analyse the raw data gathered and turn them into situation reports and single-issue reports for the individual recipients. The analytical units set the agenda for the information-gathering units; the two areas rely on each other and work closely together.
There are also specialised departments in charge of

Their aim is to detect and prevent espionage, sabotage and influence activities by foreign intelligence services. This naturally extends to cyberspace too. BfV maintains close contact with business companies, scientific institutions and authorities and warns them of espionage, sabotage and cyber attacks (for more information, see the page on economic and scientific security). Targeted alerts enable the entities concerned to take protective measures and to avert espionage and cyber attacks.

Departments for operational support

Specialised operational support units for telecommunications interception pursuant to the G10 Act and for surveillance assist the specialised departments in their work:

  • Department 3 (“measures pursuant to Article 10 of the Basic Law”) is in charge of measures taken pursuant to the Act to Restrict the Privacy of Correspondence, Posts and Telecommunications (G10 Act). Mail and telephone interception needs to be prepared and conducted with particular care. The corresponding application is only admissible on strict conditions. Interception measures are ordered by the Federal Minister of the Interior and overseen by a parliamentary committee.
  • Department O (“surveillance”) has central responsibility for coordinating and carrying out surveillance operations for all specialised departments. Specialised trainings (e.g. driving training) are also among its tasks.

Departments fulfilling service tasks

Smooth work in the specialised departments requires ideal conditions. For this reason, the service departments take care of central affairs, overarching and general topics, information technology, security matters as well as basic and advanced training:

  • Department Z (“central services”) encompasses the typical cross-cutting tasks of HR, organisation, budget and internal services. Its broad spectrum of tasks includes HR development, HR recruitment, HR services, basic and advanced training, legal issues, workflow analysis and optimisation, budget planning, facilities management, and occupational health and safety.
  • Department 1 (“General and legal issues, national and international cooperation”) performs other overarching tasks in support of the specialised departments. Among other things, it carries out legal assessments and ensures compliance with data protection standards. BfV’s contacts for public relations matters can be found in this department too.
  • Department TX (“information technology – technical infrastructure and basic applications”) manages the technical infrastructure and provides basic and cross-cutting IT applications.
  • Department TA (“operational technology”) supplies the operational technology required. It is responsible for all IT-related and technical tasks that arise in connection with operational and covert activities.
  • Department S (“security”) deals with issues relating to the security of classified material and to personnel security. Additionally, this department conducts security vetting procedures for BfV staff and is involved in security vetting procedures for external entities. It is also tasked with internal auditing and with quality management in the analytical and information-gathering units, the purpose of which is to check the lawfulness and appropriateness of the work carried out in all departments.
  • The Akademie für Verfassungsschutz (AfV) is an educational facility jointly run by the domestic intelligence services of the Federation and the federal states and by the Federal Office of Military Counter-Intelligence (BAMAD). This is where training courses and seminars for staff are held. AfV’s offer ranges from introductory and basic training courses to specialist courses for every field of work. Find out more on this topic in the article “Lifelong learning” in our careers section.

  • The Zentrum für nachrichtendienstliche Aus- und Fortbildung (ZNAF) is responsible for the theoretical parts of the civil service career training jointly conducted by BND, the German foreign intelligence service, and BfV. Find out more on this topic in the article “vocational training and university studies” in our careers section.