Many companies in Germany calm themselves with the thought that their company is too small or insignificant to be the target of a cyber attack.
Unfortunately, the statistics of the last few years prove how dangerous and damaging this misconception can be for your own company or its employees. In 2017, 56% of the companies surveyed were affected by at least one cyber attack; in 2019, 61% of companies were affected. (Source: Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report). You also have to take into account the unreported number: Many companies do not want to lose their prestige and reputation that comes with data theft or sabotage in the event of a hacker attack.
If you look at the development of cyber attacks on companies over the last few years, you can see a rapid increase in malware. In particular, the number of ransomware, attacks and campaigns has increased enormously compared to the years before 2018. But identity theft is also becoming increasingly popular among hackers.
Never before has so much personal data been stolen. A drastic development of cyber attacks on companies in recent years also shows the use of bot networks, both in private and business areas. Ongoing specialization through the use of new attack vectors, multi-vector attacks and the use of the most modern attack tools such as DDoS attacks from the cloud lead to a constantly high threat level. Although the number of malware spam used in cyber attacks on companies has decreased in recent years, the quality and therefore efficiency of spam has increased significantly, which means that the threat level remains high.
The economic damage from cyber attacks is higher than ever before. This is proven by figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office.
Although the years 2012 to 2015 were quieter than before, we saw a huge increase in losses from cyber attacks on companies in 2029:
The damage was twice as high as in 2014. Above all, the year 2014 marked a deep turning point in the history of cybercrime: This year, cybercrime tried to cause more damage worldwide than drug trafficking. And he's only grown since then
Nowadays, the Internet and the networking of devices have become an integral part of our lives, whether private or business. That's why we always have to remember that cybersecurity is an essential prerequisite for the success of digitalization. Continuous digitalization should only be approached if the associated risks can be controlled. In 2020 in particular, many employers were forced to send employees from the office to work from home due to the corona pandemic. This unplanned restructuring of companies and the ever-present fear of the virus created optimal conditions for new social engineering, campaigns and attacks on less secure home networks.
Read about in our article Home Office more about how you can protect yourself and your employees.
There are two major aspects in cybersecurity - firstly, the technical aspect: cyber attacks on companies are becoming increasingly sophisticated and have become more frequent in recent years. To protect yourself technically, there are precautions you can take - including regular ones Penetration testing. An important factor that is often overlooked is: user awareness. People are the biggest security vulnerability in any company. Through targeted user awareness, training or planned phishing campaigns, employees can be given a sense of when a situation can become dangerous.
In conclusion, the dangers of cybercrime are growing immensely and can become a serious threat to every company and in every industry. What sounded very unlikely a few years ago - an attack on your own company - is unfortunately a bitter reality for many companies - with consequences that threaten their existence
