There are signs of increasing bankruptcies in Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
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Munich The end of January will be the anniversary of the first corona case in Germany. A few days earlier, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), the Group’s industrial insurer, published its risk barometer for 2020. At the time, only three percent of the well over 2000 respondents considered the risk of a pandemic to be high. Leaving behind in 17th place, the outbreak of a global virus infection represented a rather secondary risk for the surveyed risk managers from corporations, industrial and trade organizations and insurance brokers.
After a year of Corona, the assessment is significantly different. Around 40 percent of the more than 2,700 respondents from 92 countries regard a pandemic outbreak as one of the greatest dangers for industry and trade in the new risk barometer. The respondents only fear business interruptions even more.
International risk experts rate the risk of a cyber attack just after a pandemic. A year ago, they were considered the greatest threat to businesses.
The three new top dangers for companies – business interruption, pandemic and cybercrime – show, according to AGCS boss Joachim Müller, “the growing vulnerability of our globalized and networked world”.
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The consequences of this can already be seen in many companies around the world. For example, the risks in supply chains are reduced, and corporations are also stepping up their preventive measures in order to be prepared for the new risk situation.
The AGCS itself expects losses of around 500 million euros from the entertainment sector for the past year. These are, for example, canceled or postponed major events or film productions.
Insolvency wave threatens
The pandemic also has direct consequences for the future economic situation of many companies worldwide. The credit insurer Euler Hermes expects the number of insolvencies to rise to a record high in the first half of the year. The USA, Brazil, China and the European core countries are particularly affected.
There are also signs of increasing bankruptcies in Germany. Last year, the legislature suspended the obligation to file for insolvency for companies that had become insolvent due to the consequences of Covid-19. This exception no longer applies since the beginning of the year. Only then will it be recognized which economic upheavals the corona pandemic has actually caused, said Thomas Langen recently, chairman of the credit insurance commission in the GDV industry association.
But the ongoing topic of cybercrime has also changed due to the global virus infection. While direct attacks on IT and production processes were in the foreground in the past, the changed work processes in times of lockdown and exit restrictions prompted hackers to quickly rethink.
“Covid-19 has shown how quickly cyber criminals can adapt,” observes Catharina Richter. According to the global head of the cyber center at AGCS, the boost in digitization in particular has created new areas for attack. The trend towards the often very quick changeover to home office has reinforced these possibilities.
Cyber attacks are increasing due to Corona
The examples from the recent past paint a clear picture here. According to experts, there is now hardly a company that has not at some point been the victim of an attack.
In the meantime, however, institutions are increasingly being spied on by hackers. In the first week of January, for example, a huge attack on the American IT service provider Solarwinds became known. This gave the hackers access to the data of more than 250 US authorities and companies. The attackers also obtained data from German authorities.
The attack on New Zealand’s central bank, in which the criminals obtained sensitive data, also caused a stir. According to calculations by the FBI and Interpol, cyber attacks are now costing the global economy more than a trillion dollars.
The prices for policies with which companies want to protect themselves are correspondingly more expensive. Because of the increased risk, the contributions for companies have risen sharply in recent years. In addition, the insurers have significantly reduced the amount insured, so that only a much lower amount of damage is now covered. From the point of view of the industry, this is primarily due to the large number of damage that a single cyber attack can cause to different people.
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