Programming with the Class Enemy: The Stasi, Siemens, and IT Knowledge Transfer during the Cold War

Abstract

Abstract:This article shows how the East German Ministry for State Security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS, colloquially known as the Stasi) managed to get hold of West German computer technology even without its usual spying and smuggling methods. In 1970, Siemens delivered three of their most modern mainframes quite officially and with the blessing of the West German government to an East Berlin front company disguising the Stasi's main computing center. Technicians, programmers, and Siemens sales personnel even provided "IT support" for Division XIII of the MfS and delivered spare parts, new software versions, and peripheral equipment. Western technology enabled the Stasi to jump-start its moves toward digitalization, which put it in the lead compared with other Eastern state security services until 1989.