Germany's Customs Investigation Bureau has posted a job advert for vacancies for developers to work on government-sponsored trojans. The job placement ad reveals that the law enforcement agency is currently looking to recruit two people to work on telecommunications interception at the source of the messages ("Quellen-TKÜ") at its head office in Cologne; the position is to be filled as soon as possible. The role principally involves "planning, operating and optimising a modern telecommunications network" designed to eavesdrop on internet telephone calls.

Applicants, who need to get their applications in by 28 November, will also be expected to have expertise in general IT and pertinent security issues, produce cost-effective specifications and be able to prepare and support procurement measures. The role also involves carrying out market observation and providing technical advice both internally and externally.

As well as a relevant university degree, applicants should have three years of relevant experience and "expertise in IT security architectures", especially with operating systems such as Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. Practical experience of software modelling, including quality assurance, is also required, as is a methodical approach, the ability to work well in a team and organisational skills.

In September, Germany's Federal Police Agency (BKA) also advertised for a research assistant to help develop surveillance techniques for criminal cases relating to computer networks. Government-sponsored trojans which had been used to eavesdrop on internet telephone calls by they Federal Police have been discredited by reports published by the Chaos Computer Club and been temporarily withdrawn from service. Whether a surveillance service using trojans to intercept internet telephone calls prior to encryption at the originator or after decryption at the recipient is legal under German law is currently the subject of considerable controversy among experts and politicians.

See also:

Federal Commissioner unable to audit Federal Trojan source, a report from The H.



(Stefan Krempl / fab)