The Surge of Cyber Attacks Predicted to Persist
As per the latest "Federal Cybercrime Situation Report" unveiled in Wiesbaden, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has highlighted a continuous escalation in the threat posed by cyber attacks over the past year.
"The ongoing trend of cyber attacks, both in terms of quantity and quality, is evident from data sourced from the police database and insights provided by various IT security service providers for the year 2023," stated the report.
This upward trajectory is primarily attributed to cases causing harm within Germany, where the perpetrators are either situated abroad or their identities remain undisclosed. According to the 2023 federal situation report, cybercrime offenses originating from foreign territories surged by approximately 28 percent compared to the previous year. Conversely, domestic police crime statistics recorded a marginal decline of 1.8 percent in cybercrimes during the same period.
Ransomware attacks persist as the foremost threat, wherein perpetrators encrypt data belonging to companies or public entities and demand payment for decryption. Nationwide, over 800 companies and institutions reported incidents of ransomware attacks in 2023, as per the federal situation report.
The BKA underscored significant financial losses incurred due to cybercrime in 2023, citing data from the digital association Bitkom. The collective damages, encompassing analog and digital theft, industrial espionage, or sabotage inflicted upon companies in Germany, totaled 205.9 billion euros. According to Bitkom, cyber attacks accounted for nearly three-quarters of this sum. Notably, the explicitly stated damages resulting from extortion involving stolen or encrypted data amounted to 16.1 billion euros.
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