(de-news.net) – Holger Münch, President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), has called for a substantial expansion of his agency’s authority in the national effort to combat cybercrime. He emphasized that the current regulatory framework significantly impedes the BKA’s capacity to undertake interventions during ongoing cyberattacks, except in situations involving imminent dangers. Münch characterized this limitation as increasingly incompatible with the complexity of today’s cyber-threat landscape, in which hostile actors can cause widespread disruption. Under current law, the BKA may intervene only once a criminal offense has been clearly established, a framework Münch described as increasingly misaligned with the operational demands of modern cybersecurity.

According to Münch, police forces operating in the physical world are routinely empowered to engage in hazard‑prevention duties. These actions, he stressed, are broadly recognized as standard components of public-safety work. By contrast, he indicated that the BKA, despite being integrated into the police system, lacks parallel preventive capabilities in the digital domain. This discrepancy, he continued, has produced an institutional imbalance that weakens the state’s ability to mount effective responses to emerging cyber risks.

Münch concluded that a meaningful strengthening of national cybersecurity would require the establishment of explicit and legally robust foundations within the BKA Act. Only with such statutory provisions, he maintained, could the agency implement targeted preventive measures during significant cyber incidents with success.