BERLIN/MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The list of victims of cyberattacks in Germany is long: it ranges from the automotive supplier Continental and the hotel chain Motel One to the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. On the PC screens there and at many other companies, only messages such as "Your computer is locked" or "Your data is encrypted" appeared. The companies were victims of a so-called ransomware attack.

Ransomware is the term used by experts to describe malware that cybercriminals use to penetrate the IT systems of companies and organizations and encrypt important data. For the release, they demand a loose money (English: "ransom"), often to be paid in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.

And although the security authorities are also striking a blow against internationally active cybercriminals time and again, the wave of attacks is not abating, quite the opposite: the insurance group Allianz expects a worrying increase for the current year. In the cyberattacks, personal or sensitive business data is now also stolen in most cases for the purpose of extortion, according to a study by Allianz Commercial published on Wednesday. This would increase the cost and complexity of the incidents and increase the potential for reputational damage.

According to Allianz, the number of ransomware attacks increased by half in the first half of 2023 alone. For the "Cyber Security Trends 2023" study, the insurer analyzed major cyber losses in detail: According to the study, the number of cases in which data is leaked has been rising for years - from 40 percent in 2019 to almost 80 percent in 2022, and this year the number will be significantly higher. Absolute case numbers are not given in the study.

Allianz's analysis is in line with the findings of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). "Cyber attacks with ransomware continue to pose the greatest threat to companies and organizations," warned BSI Vice President Gerhard Schabhüser most recently.

According to a survey by digital association Bitkom, a good half of all companies with ten or more employees in Germany (52 percent) have been attacked with ransomware within a year. That's more than 230,000 companies. One in nine companies in Germany (11 percent) that fell victim to ransomware had paid loose money as a result. Four out of ten ransomware victims (44 percent) report that their business operations were affected by the paralyzed computers and lost data, on average for around three days.

Bitkom surveyed the managers of 1002 companies with ten or more employees in Germany for its study. The survey is representative. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are around 445,000 companies of this size in the Federal Republic.

Worldwide, many millions flow into the hands of cybercriminals. According to the analytics company Chainalysis, ransomware victims paid nearly $450 million to cybercriminals in the first six months of this year. This six-month figure nearly matches the $500 million paid in the entire previous year. Chainalysis specializes primarily in analyzing blockchain databases of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, where transactions can be tracked openly.

However, Bitkom warns affected companies not to respond to the extortionists' demands: "Anyone who falls victim to ransomware should definitely not pay," said Susanne Dehmel, a member of Bitkom's executive board. "For one thing, doing so strengthens the criminal organizations behind the attacks and makes you an interesting target for further attacks. On the other hand, the malware is often so poorly programmed that the data cannot be restored, or not completely, even after payment."

Dehmel advises companies to take preventive action: "In addition to the usual IT security measures such as up-to-date software or employee training, there is one effective means against ransomware attacks: Backups. Anyone who has up-to-date backup copies of data and has also practiced importing them back into the systems quickly can significantly reduce the damage."/chd/DP/nas