Germany plans a major reform of intelligence powers that would allow its spy services to move beyond “watching and reporting” and take disruptive covert action, including cyber intrusions and spreading targeted false information, according to a draft law reviewed by Reuters.

After World War Two, German spy agencies were subject to stricter limits than many other countries’ services to prevent them from becoming overly powerful within the state. The new reform is framed as a response to rising cyber and hybrid threats that Berlin links especially to Russia.

The interior ministry’s plan would rewrite the legal basis for both the domestic security agency and the foreign intelligence service and create a single framework for covert operations, particularly online. It introduces new categories of threats that would unlock graduated powers, from basic monitoring to “particularly serious” surveillance.

For the first time, the services would be able to interfere with attackers’ infrastructure or deliberately spread targeted false information. In cyberspace, the draft says that under strict thresholds they could break into attackers’ IT systems and copy or delete data, and disable campaign tools used by foreign states—particularly during specified threat situations such as large-scale cyber operations.

The proposal also includes new rules for state spyware and “source telecommunications surveillance” for online searches. It would require telecoms, digital platforms, transport operators, and financial intermediaries to comply with secret disclosure orders, with penalties of up to €1 million and the possibility of on-site inspections.

Oversight would be reorganized: a new top-level watchdog called an Independent Control Council would replace fragmented existing bodies. It would combine wiretap approval and data-protection control and would be required to pre-clear the most intrusive measures, including long-term undercover deployments and home surveillance.