Organisation

BfV responds to geo-political changes and the security situation by taking the appropriate personnel and organisational measures. The dissolution of the Ministry of State Security (MfS), the sharp rise in right-wing extremist offences in the 1990s and the terrorist acts committed by Islamist violent offenders have caused BfV to make radical changes.
Areas of responsibility have been merged and, in particular, a new department has been founded to counter "Islamism and Islamist terrorism". There have been large investments in technological expertise, most of all in order to keep up with the extremists' use of modern means of communication, e.g. the Internet. The number of personnel has been adapted to the requirements in a flexible way.

BfV's organisational structure is now as follows:

President
Vice-president
Department Z
Central Services
Department IT
Information Technology and Operational Intelligence Technology
Department 1
Basic Issues
Department 2
German Right-wing and Left-wing Extremism / Terrorism
Department 3
Central Operational Support
Department 4
Counter-espionage, Protective Security and Counter-sabotage
Department 5
Activities posing a Threat to Security / Extremist Efforts - by Foreigners and from Abroad (with the Exception of Islamists)
Department 6
Islamism and Islamist Terrorism

DOI: March 2011