German cyberattacks continue to mount despite improved insurance conditions

German risk and insurance managers may be feeling a little more relaxed about their coming cyber insurance renewals as they gather for the annual GVNW Symposium in Munich, given relatively improved capacity levels this year. But according to the latest survey of more than 1,000 German firms from all sectors carried out by Berlin-based national digital association Bitkom, the cyber threat continues to rise. Bitkom reports that total cyber losses so far this year accounted for about 75% of all IT-related losses, valued at €148bn, a significant increase on this point last year when cyberattacks were responsible for 63% and around €128bn in value. The association said that the vast majority of companies (97%) would like the national security authorities to provide better information about the cybersecurity situation, in particular known vulnerabilities. Most German firms that took part in Bitkom’s latest survey also believe that reporting cyberattacks should be mandatory for companies, authorities and public institutions. However, a large majority of those surveyed complained that the bureaucratic effort involved in reporting cyberattacks is currently too high. Bitkom president Dr Ralph Wintergerst explained that when it comes to cyberattacks, phishing is the biggest risk, accounting for 31% of all attacks so far this year compared with 25% at this point in 2022. This is followed by attacks on passwords – up to 29% from 25% in 2022 – and infection, with malware at 28% up from 25% last year. Bitkom said that the damage caused by ransomware has increased significantly, with 23% of the companies that took part in the survey reporting such an incident. At this point in 2022, only 12% of firms had suffered a ransomware attack. The good news is that Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks only caused damage in 12% of companies, down significantly from 21% at this point last year. In total, Bitkom found that cyberattacks are now responsible for almost three-quarters (72%) of all damage caused to the German economy by data theft, sabotage and industrial espionage, thus leading to the total cyber loss so far this year of €148bn. “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 Wintergerst. “The trend towards attacks in the digital space will continue. German companies must at least bring their IT security to the level that has long been standard for on-site physical security,” he added. Bitkom’s survey also identified a clear trend in data theft. A majority of the affected companies (56%) reported that customer data was affected by theft. In 2022, the share was only 45% but already up from the 31% in 2021. Theft of employee data has also increased significantly, rising to 33% so far this year, up from 25% in 2022 and 17% at this point in 2021. "When personal data of third parties is stolen, the damage often goes far beyond the company attacked and it can cause considerable consequential damage to the persons concerned,” said Wintergerst. “And such an attack is also usually particularly serious for companies. They often expect fines and, in addition to a loss of reputation, there is a massive loss of trust among employees, customers or partners,” he added. The vast majority of German companies (82%) that took part in the survey expect cyberattacks on their own company to increase in the next 12 months. Fifty-four percent expect attacks will increase sharply. Bitkom reported that not a single one of the more than 1,000 companies surveyed expects the number of attacks to decrease. “The vast majority of companies (97%) would therefore like the security authorities to provide better information about the cybersecurity situation, for example about known vulnerabilities. Eighty-four percent believe that reporting cyberattacks should be mandatory for companies, but also for authorities and public institutions. At the same time, 80% complain that the bureaucratic effort involved in reporting cyberattacks is currently too high,” said Bitkom. The survey also found that German organisations are allocating a larger portion of their IT budget to cybersecurity. “In the face of this threat landscape, companies have ramped up their investments in IT security. On average, 14% of a company’s IT budget is currently devoted to IT security, compared to 9% in the previous year. Around a third of the companies (30%) account for 20% or more of the IT budget and thus fulfill the recommendation of Bitkom and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI),” noted the association.

German cyberattacks continue to mount despite improved insurance conditions

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