Status: 02/23/2023 11:50 a.m
When companies digitize their business model, they provide targets for cybercriminals. Many small and medium-sized companies have problems fending off hacker attacks.
Three out of ten medium-sized companies in Germany were attacked by cybercriminals between 2018 and 2020. This is the result of a special evaluation by the SME panel of the development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). According to this, larger companies with more than 100 employees and those with particularly pronounced digitization activities were the target of cyber attacks.
More cybercrime through digitization
43 percent of the companies that spent more than 10,000 euros on digitization projects in 2020 were attacked. Among the companies that had not made any such investments, the proportion of companies attacked was only 23 percent.
The main threat lies in the extortion of ransom or hush money. Targeted overloading of websites is also a widespread attack method, KfW reported from a survey of more than 11,000 companies. With increasing digitization, the experts expect further criminal machinations.
Inadequate preparation for cyber attacks
In many small and medium-sized companies, the threat situation is either not recognized or not adequately combated for other reasons. Companies find it difficult to find suitable specialist staff or reliable service providers for IT security. Here, KfW proposes provider directories with defined quality criteria.
The requirements for data protection and data security are still the most common obstacles to digitization in SMEs, explained KfW chief economist Fritzi Köhler-Geib. Many IT security incidents could be avoided through appropriate education, training and regular refresher courses.