A man holds a laptop as cyber code is projected onto him in this illustrative photo taken on May 13, 2017. Using spying tools reportedly developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers organized a cyber attack with automatic propagation.
The damage will exceed the 200 billion euro mark for the third year in a row, according to a Bitkom survey of more than 1,000 companies.
“The German economy is a very attractive target for criminals and hostile states. The lines between organized crime and state-controlled actors are blurred,” said Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst.
Around three-quarters of businesses surveyed, experienced digital attacks in the past 12 months, up from 84% the year before.
“The slight decline in the number of businesses is a positive sign and indicates that the protective measures are bearing fruit,” Wintergerst said.
When asked if “cyberattacks threaten the existence of your business,” for the first time, more than half of businesses, or 52 percent, said “yes.” A year ago, this figure stood at 45%, and two years ago, at 9%, according to the survey.
Of the companies affected by attacks, 70% had sensitive data stolen, an increase of 7 percentage points from the previous year. Likewise, 61% of companies have had their digital communications spied on, an increase of 4 percentage points over the year.
“Our response to this growing threat is to significantly strengthen cooperation with our partners, to detect and respond quickly to attacks, as well as to continually adapt our defense mechanisms,” said Sinan Selen, President of the Federal Office for Protection. protection of the Constitution.
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Reporting by Maria Martinez, editing by Friederike Heine and Susan Fenton
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