Cyber attacks on companies in Germany are being carried out more and more frequently from Russia and China. This is the result of a study by the digital association Bitkom, which was published in Berlin. In a representative survey, for which more than 1,000 companies from all sectors were interviewed, 46 percent of the companies affected were able to trace attacks back to Russia (2021: 23 percent). 42 percent of the companies attacked are certain that they were attacked from China (2021: 30 percent).
A good third of the companies attacked (37 percent) could not determine the geographical origin of the attacks. 29 percent of those affected say they were attacked from Germany. 25 percent suspect that the attackers were based in Eastern Europe. Malicious hackers from the US (18 percent) and European Unions (11 percent) played a minor role. When asked about the origin of the cyber attacks, multiple answers were possible.
Vice President for the Protection of the Constitution, Sinan Selen, said that the attacked companies’ self-assessments corresponded to the findings of his authority. When analyzing the attacks, it is possible to determine a kind of fingerprint of the attackers. “In many cases we can trace the origins very precisely, sometimes down to specific districts” from which the attacks emanated.
According to the Bitkom study, cyber attacks are now responsible for almost three quarters (72 percent) of all damage caused to the German economy by data theft, sabotage and industrial espionage. That corresponds to around 148 billion euros and is a significant increase compared to the previous year, when only 63 percent and thus around 128 billion euros could be attributed to cyber attacks. “Digital attacks can be carried out from anywhere in the world. And the risk of being bothered by the police or other law enforcement agencies is low or non-existent in many countries,” said Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst.
