Britain's GCHQ intelligence service infiltrated German Internet firms according to new leaks. Top secret documents from the archive of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden viewed by SPIEGEL show that the British spies surveilled employees of several German companies, and have also infiltrated their networks.

One top-secret GCHQ paper claims the agency sought "development of in-depth knowledge of key satellite IP service providers in Germany." The document, which is undated, states that the goal of the effort was developing wider knowledge of Internet traffic flowing through Germany. Three of the German companies targeted for surveillance were Stellar, Cetel and IABG.

GCHQ in Cornwall tried to identify important customers of the German ISPs providers, their technology suppliers as well as future technical trends in their business sector. This pours cold water on the idea that the British were spying on terrorists and other military threats. This type of spying is economic espionage.

So far, the German Federal Public Prosecutor Harald Range has done little to sue the British, or the Americans.