The quality and scope of cyberattacks on companies have increased steadily in recent years. In 2019 alone, criminal attacks on companies in Germany cost them around 102.9 billion euros annually, according to Bitkom. This amount is almost twice as high as in 2017, which is reason enough to take a closer look at the topic. After all, not all companies are as well protected as they think.
Advancing digitization is making IT security ever more relevant for companies. Employees no longer work on fixed computers in the same place in the office. Instead, laptops, smartphones and I-pads are used at any location. In contrast to the past, data and business processes are no longer located only in large corporate data centers and on the company's own devices, but on many different mobile data carriers, private end devices and, above all, in the cloud.
Developments that are practical in everyday work, but offer many new points of attack. In 2019, the number of cybercrime cases continued to rise steadily compared to previous years. 75 percent of all companies in Germany were the target of attacks. Medium-sized businesses are particularly hard hit. And the consequences are enormous. Cybercrime is nowadays one of the most dangerous and also most underestimated threats regarding the liquidity of companies. Those who do not recognize threats early on and prevent them with solutions risk major economic damage and penalties. Other consequences include damage to reputation and image as well as an enormous loss of trust among employees, business partners and customers.
From 2018 to 2019 alone, the number of recorded cyberattacks increased by almost 50 percent, rising to a worrying 75 percent. By comparison, according to a study by the German Digital Association, Bitkom and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, 51 percent of companies were affected in 2015. Two years later, 53 percent. Accordingly, the numbers are rising rapidly. Furthermore, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) estimates that the number of unreported cybercrimes is significantly higher. Commercial enterprises in particular are increasingly failing to report such offenses so as not to jeopardize the trust placed in them by their business partners and customers.
Various companies around the world have been the focus of cybercriminals for years. Identity and data theft, for example, is on the rise. The attacks are becoming increasingly professional, complex and large. In May 2014, for example, Ebay became the target of hackers. Email addresses, usernames and passwords of almost 145 million registered customers were stolen. In July 2016, a hacker attack on the American fast food chain Wendy's also became public. The cyber criminals had gained access to the cash register system of almost 1000 branches of the fast food chain via remote access. Among other things, customers' credit card data was stolen during the attacks.
Attacks on big-name companies, including Yahoo, Sony Pictures and Adobe Systems, show that even an in-house IT department and supposedly good protection do not protect against hackers. This makes it all the more important to get to grips with the wide range of security solutions available and to identify one's own weak points.
Identify and reduce your cyber risks through a comparable and understandable overview of your IT security. Let our experts advise you and find out how LocateRisk can help you solve your cyber risks.
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