German Firms’ Costs Hit €267 Billion in Year as Data Theft Soars
(Bloomberg) -- More than 80% of German companies fell victim to data theft, industrial espionage or sabotage over the past year, with the cumulative damage caused rising by almost a third to a record €267 billion ($298 billion), according to a survey by tech lobby Bitkom.
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Some 70% of firms polled between April and June were able to attribute the attacks — both digital and analog — to organized criminal gangs, the survey of around 1,000 companies published Wednesday showed. Foreign security services were identified as the perpetrators in a fifth of cases, up from 7% in the previous year.
China surpassed Russia as the most frequent source of attacks. Attacks from non-European Union nations in eastern Europe also increased, Bitkom said.
The damages, which represent more than 6% of Germany’s gross domestic product in 2023, highlight concerns over Chinese cybercrime as tensions escalate between Beijing and the EU and its allies.
“International conflicts and systemic rivalries are shaping the security situation in cyberspace as well as in the geopolitical sphere,” Sinan Selen, a vice president of Germany’s domestic security agency, said in an emailed statement published with the report.
The threat to Europe’s biggest economy is increasing, according to Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst, who urged companies to boost security measures.
“This applies to digital as well as classic attacks, such as eavesdropping on meetings or the theft of physical documents,” Wintergerst said.
Some two-thirds of the companies surveyed see their existence threatened by cyberattacks, up from about half a year ago and 9% in 2021, he added.
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