ECB's IT head named as next German cybersecurity chief

BERLIN (Reuters) - Claudia Plattner, the European Central Bank's director general for information systems, was named as Germany's next cybersecurity chief on Tuesday, filling a position left empty for months after the previous head was fired following reports of possible Russia ties.

Plattner, a trained mathematician who has held her ECB role since July 2021, will take over as head of the BSI cybersecurity agency starting July 1, the German interior ministry said in a statement.

Her predecessor, Arne Schoenbohm, was fired in October and an investigation was launched into his conduct after media allegations that he may have come into contact with Russian security circles through a consultancy he co-founded.

Schoenbohm said in October he had himself asked the ministry to launch an investigation.

(Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Paul Carrel)