Online crime
Munich Re: Cybercrime is causing more and more damage
The spread of digital technology goes hand in hand with a criminal boom, against which the security authorities are obviously powerless. A data analysis shows the growing danger.
Regardless of isolated search success of international security authorities, cybercriminals are increasing from year to year. According to an analysis by the reinsurer Munich Re, the damage caused by hackers and other online operators worldwide has increased again in the past year. Accordingly, the number of global extortion attacks with malignant “ransomware” could have increased by a quarter.
The “scamming” has also taken on an industrial scale in which online fraudsters make their victims with the help of stolen or false identities to transfer money. The Munich Re refers to estimates that, according to Southeast Asia, up to half a million people in “fraud factories” for online scammer, especially in Southeast Asia.
The assessments are partly based on data from security authorities and cyber security service providers, partly on their own surveys of the Munich Dax Group. One of the largest acquisition cases of the past year was the attack on Change Healthcare, an administrative service provider in US health, in which the perpetrators stole $ 22 million and personal data records of 190 million people in accordance with the figures quoted by Munich.
The number of data leaks as a total of 2024 could have spent 5.5 billion affected online accounts. The highest amount paid to blackmails from an unnamed US company in last year is estimated at $ 75 million.
Four criminal business models
In addition to blackmail, fraud and data theft, according to Munich Re cyber attacks on supply chains, the fourth criminal business model of cybidangers are often observed. However, not all organizations and industries are equally affected: the greatest risk of hacker attacks is therefore run by governments and government authorities, followed by industrial companies and technology companies. The company’s cyber experts warn that small and small and small companies are often hit because they often take less complex protection and defense measures against cyber attacks than larger companies.
dpa
Source: Stern
