Status report of the BKA: Cyber ​​attacks continue to increase

Cyber ​​crimes have continued to increase significantly over the past year. According to the BKA, one reason for this is the increasing digitization – also due to the corona pandemic. The damage is enormous.

Last year, the police recorded around 146,000 cyber crimes. This is another record value – and an increase of twelve percent compared to 2020. According to the definition of the Federal Criminal Police Office, cyber crimes are offenses directed against the Internet and information technology systems. For example, the spread of malware and criminal intrusion into company networks.

Increasing digitization is one reason for the increase in crime in the digital space: there are simply more and more opportunities to commit crimes. The corona pandemic also contributed to this, says the Vice President of the BKA, Martina Link, at the Presentation of the cybercrime situation picture. Many companies and authorities have greatly expanded the possibilities of working from home – and this was linked to “the fact that access to company networks, from the home office, but also mobile, has been created from every conceivable place in the world”. This boost in digitization not only creates more convenience and more flexibility, “it also creates a large number of new opportunities for cybercriminals”.

Damages amounting to 223.5 billion euros

The damage caused by so-called Internet crime is high. The BKA refers to figures published by the Bitkom industry association. According to this, cybercrime caused damage of 223.5 billion euros in Germany last year. There was a particularly strong increase in so-called ransomware attacks. Criminals encrypt the computer systems of private individuals, authorities or companies. They can then no longer access their data. The criminals promise to make the data accessible again for a ransom. “We always advocate not paying ransoms,” says BKA Deputy Link. “Because every payment of ransom fuels and supports the criminal infrastructure.”

In its current picture of the situation, the BKA emphasizes that the clear-up rate for cyber crimes is low. Not even every third case can be solved. In addition, the number of unreported cases is high because many crimes go unreported.

Increase in criminal offenses due to the Ukraine war

In the course of the Ukraine war, the Federal Criminal Police Office fears that there could be a further increase in criminal offenses on the Internet. “We see cyber groups showing solidarity with the Russian side, but also with the Ukrainian side. We see malware used to sabotage the Ukrainian IT infrastructure. And we see DDoS attacks in support of the Ukrainian or even the Russian side .”

This would blur the lines between criminal and possibly state-controlled actors. The federal government is also keeping a close eye on this area: “Since the beginning of the war, we have had an aggravated situation in the area of ​​cyber security,” says Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s spokesman. “But so far we have not been able to detect any major cyber attacks. Neither on federal institutions, nor on other important authorities, nor on critical infrastructure facilities, which is particularly important to us.”

Individuals are also affected

Incidentally, it is not only authorities and companies that are affected by cybercrime. Individuals can also become victims. In this respect, it is important to protect yourself. “It starts with keeping IT security, antivirus programs and the like up to date,” says BKA Deputy Link. In the second step, passwords should not be “the usual 1234”, “but something more complex and therefore not so easy to understand”.

And on top of that: Back up data and be suspicious if you get emails or messages that seem strange to you. In such a case: better not open attachments and do not click on any links.