Last year, attacks from China on German companies increased. This is the result of a representative study by the digital association Bitkom, in which more than 1,000 companies across all sectors were surveyed.

According to the study, 45 percent of the affected companies said they could trace the attacks back to China, compared to 42 percent in 2023. 39 percent of the attacked companies were sure that they were attacked from Russia. Last year, the figure was 46 percent.

When asked about the origin of the cyber attacks, multiple answers were possible. This took into account the fact that some of the affected companies were attacked multiple times and from different regions.

Almost a third of the attacks from Eastern Europe

A good third of the companies attacked (36 percent) could not trace where the attacks came from. 32 percent of the hackers are said to have come from Eastern Europe. In 21 percent of cases, the EU was suspected to be the starting point. One in five companies (20 percent) assumes that the attack came from Germany. A quarter assume that the attackers were based in the USA.

The companies that have been attacked assume that in 70 percent of cases the perpetrators come primarily from the ranks of organized crime. Foreign intelligence services are suspected of being responsible in 20 percent of cases, compared to 7 percent a year ago. 27 percent of the attacks are said to have been acts of revenge by current and former employees.

81 percent of the companies surveyed said that their company had 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. A further ten percent suspect this to have happened.

Cyber ​​attacks as an existential threat

“Companies must continue to 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 Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst. Cyber ​​attacks pose a particular threat to the economy. In the study, two thirds (65 percent) of companies stated that their existence was threatened by cyber attacks. A year ago, the figure was 52 percent, and in 2021 it was 9 percent.

© Lea Dohle

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The companies affected estimate the damage caused by the analogue and digital attacks to total 267 billion euros. That is 29 percent more than in the previous year.

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Last year, attacks from China on German companies increased. This is the result of a representative study by the digital association Bitkom, in which more than 1,000 companies across all sectors were surveyed.

According to the study, 45 percent of the affected companies said they could trace the attacks back to China, compared to 42 percent in 2023. 39 percent of the attacked companies were sure that they were attacked from Russia. Last year, the figure was 46 percent.

When asked about the origin of the cyber attacks, multiple answers were possible. This took into account the fact that some of the affected companies were attacked multiple times and from different regions.