Agents of the foreign service, the BND, will be able to conduct covert operations abroad, including sabotage. For the first time, they will also be able to take protective action against property and information technology systems if specific threats are identified.
Germany's parliament approved a major overhaul of intelligence legislation, giving the foreign and domestic services greater powers to combat espionage, terrorism and sabotage.
In the Bundestag, 309 members voted in favour of the new law, 190 voted against and 71 abstained.
The reform is a break with practice shaped by history. German intelligence has mainly gathered information rather than acted on it.
Agents of the domestic service, the BfV, will no longer be limited to collecting information. They will receive wider powers of digital surveillance, including the monitoring of encrypted telecommunications and online searches.
"We are the target of hybrid threats,"Dobrindt said.
In August, a drone carrying an explosive device was found at Leipzig Airport, close to Ukrainian cargo planes. German authorities say Russia was behind the attack.
The vote gives both services a broader role against espionage, terrorism and sabotage at a time when officials describe Germany as exposed to threats from abroad.