US and UK intelligence agencies did not spy on Germans, investigation into Snowden files suggests

There is no evidence that British and American intelligence agencies are phone tapping German citizens en masse, an investigation has found.

Germany’s federal public prosecutor found no evidence to support allegations sparked by documents leaked by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.

“Both the public prosecutor's investigation and the work by the Bundestag’s NSA investigation committee has not found any tangible evidence that American or British intelligence services carried out systematic and mass surveillance of German telecommunications and internet [usage] that is against the law,” a spokesperson said.

Prosecutors said that “all major global intelligence agencies” strategically intercept telecommunications data and internet traffic but there was no evidence the UK and US had specifically targeted Germany.

A statement said the Snowden leaks provided information on the techniques and abilities of the NSA and GCHQ, but that the “possibilities for reconnaissance described were already known to the German espionage defence authorities”.

Prosecutors said the information did not show the methods actually being used and there no evidence Germany had been targeted, meaning the investigation would be closed.

The end of the probe follows a period of strained ties between Berlin, Washington and London, amid outrage over claims that first emerged in 2013.

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Allegations that the NSA bugged Angela Merkel's mobile phone shocked Germans and prompted demands for an investigation.

“Spying among friends - that is simply not done,” the Chancellor said at the time. “The Cold War is over.”

Prosecutors dropped an investigation into that claim in 2015, when further allegations emerged suggesting that Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency had helped the NSA spy on European companies and politicians for years.

Surveillance is a particularly sensitive subject in Germany due to the activities of the loathed East German Stasi secret police, who spied extensively on ordinary citizens, and the Nazi-era Gestapo.

Debates on international cyber warfare also continue in parliament, with top German intelligence officials urging politicians to give them greater legal authority to “hack back” in the event of attacks by foreign powers.

Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the BfV domestic intelligence agency, told the parliamentary oversight committee it should be possible to destroy data stolen from German servers and moved to foreign servers to prevent it from being misused.

He said it would also make sense to “infect” foreign servers with software that would enable greater surveillance of any operations directed against German cyber targets, or to extract data, much as human agents are recruited for counter-espionage.

“These are 'hack back' instruments, but they are below the threshold of destroying or incapacitating a foreign server,” Mr Maassen said.

German officials have blamed APT28, a Russian hacker group said linked to Moscow, for the May 2015 hack of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, and other cyber attacks aimed at political groups, individuals or institutions.

Vladimir Putin has dismissed allegations of government interference in European and American elections.

Fears of cyber attacks against the British Government and critical national infrastructure in the UK have also been mounting.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) registered 1,131 incidents in the 12 months since the organisation began work in October 2016.

Of those, 590 were considered to be “significant” cyber attacks and more than 30 required a cross-Government response.

Organisations targeted over the year ranged from key national institutions to small and large businesses.

The most high-profile episode was the global WannaCry ransomware outbreak which affected dozens of NHS trusts in May, while in June email accounts were targeted in an attack on the Houses of Parliament.

Ciaran Martin, chief executive of the NCSC, described the cyber threat as “large, growing and diverse” and warned further attacks are inevitable.

"Cyber security is crucial to our national security and to our prosperity,” he added.

"We're incredibly proud of what we have achieved in our first year at the NCSC, bringing together some of the best cyber security brains in the country in a single place.

"But the threat remains very real and growing - further attacks will happen and there is much more for us to do to make the UK the safest place in the world to live and do business online."

Additional reporting by agencies