More and more German companies see themselves threatened by cyber attacks. A recent study shows that attackers from China and Russia in particular are among those responsible.
Last year, China became the most important base for attacks on the German economy. This is the result of a study by the digital association Bitkom, which was published in Berlin.
In a representative survey of more than 1,000 companies across all industries, 45 percent of the affected companies stated that they could trace the attacks back to China (2023: 42 percent). 39 percent of the attacked companies were certain that they were attacked from Russia (2023: 46 percent).
Almost a third of the attacks probably came from Eastern Europe
However, a good third of the attacked companies (36 percent) could not say which region the attackers came from. One in five attack victims (20 percent) assume that the attack came from Germany. A quarter (25 percent) suspect that the attackers were based in the USA. Hackers with malicious intentions from Eastern Europe made up 32 percent of the cases, and the European Union (excluding Germany) was suspected to be the starting point in 21 percent of the cases.
When asked about the regional origin of the cyber attacks and the perpetrators, multiple answers were possible. This took into account the fact that some of the affected companies were attacked multiple times and from different regions.
Criminal gangs and secret services are considered primarily responsible
The companies attacked suspect that the perpetrators mainly come from the ranks of organized crime (70 percent). Foreign intelligence services are suspected of being responsible in 20 percent of cases; a year ago, the secret services were identified as the masterminds in only 7 percent of all incidents. 27 percent of the attacks are said to have been revenge attacks by current and former employees.
The Bitkom survey also shows the extent to which the threat has now reached. Eight out of ten companies in Germany (81 percent) say that their company has been affected by theft of data and IT equipment as well as by digital and analog industrial espionage or sabotage in the past twelve months. Another ten percent suspect this.
Those affected estimate the total damage caused by these analogue and digital attacks to be 267 billion euros, which is 29 percent more than in the previous year.
Companies feel threatened in their existence
Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said the threat to the German economy is worsening. “Companies must further increase their protective measures. This applies to digital as well as classic attacks such as eavesdropping on meetings or the theft of physical documents,” said Wintergerst.
Cyber attacks pose a particular threat to the economy. Two thirds (65 percent) of companies now see their existence threatened by cyber attacks, compared to 52 percent a year ago and just 9 percent in 2021.
