Whether fitness tracker, smart car or fully automated production: digitalization is progressing with great momentum and affecting all areas of life and work.

But progress also has its downsides: the increasing number of digital devices offers cybercriminals more and more potential targets. Accordingly, the number of cyber attacks in Germany continued to rise in 2018. Around 87,000 cases of cybercrime were recorded by the police, one percent more than in the previous year. An increase of around five percent (271,864 cases) was also recorded in the number of crimes in which the internet was used as a means of crime in 2018.

This emerges from the “Cybercrime” situation report published today by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

The variety of digital attack targets ensures that the overall volume of malware continues to increase. Cybercriminals do not necessarily have to create this malware themselves.

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On marketplaces in the Clearnet, Deepweb and Darknet, a large number of illegal offers are made against payment, for example to carry out attacks on company networks and websites or to have viruses programmed. “Crime-as-a-Service” is the name of this business model, in which stolen data or anonymization services are sold malware One of these marketplaces was “Webstresser”, a platform that specialized in carrying out so-called DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on websites on behalf of its customers. DDoS attacks aim to overload web presences, servers and networks so that they are no longer accessible. With the help of “Webstresser,” even laypeople could carry out these attacks.

In April 2018, the site, which was hosted in Frankfurt am Main, among other places, was taken offline as part of an internationally coordinated measure by several law enforcement authorities, in which the BKA was also involved. Up to this point, “Webstresser” had been used for over four million DDoS attacks worldwide. The administrator of the site was arrested and investigations began against 250 users of the platform.

Over 60 million euros in damage!

Cybercrime caused damage amounting to over 60 million euros in 2018, a decrease of around 18 percent compared to the previous year (2017: 71.4 million euros). However, the number only reflects what the police became aware of. In fact, the damage to companies is likely to amount to over 100 billion euros, as estimates from the economy in the 2018/2019 observation period show.

The enormous difference can also be explained by the high dark field in this phenomenon area. Companies in particular still report cases of cybercrime and the associated material damage comparatively rarely. The fear of a loss of trust among partners and customers contradicts the interest in having the crime prosecuted. Companies are a preferred target for hackers, although criminals are not only interested in getting hold of the company's money.

Spying on technological knowledge is also important for them.

The BKA advises both companies and private individuals to report every case of cybercrime. In addition, preventative security measures should be taken for devices and processes. The example of phishing in online banking shows that this has a positive effect: in 2018, 723 cases of the phishing phenomenon were reported, which corresponds to a decrease of almost 50 percent compared to the previous year. The declining numbers are due to the fact that banks have further developed their TAN procedures and closed security gaps. Overall, however, the BKA expects the number of cybercrime cases to continue to rise in the coming years. In order to adequately meet this challenge, the BKA is currently working on setting up a “Cybercrime” department. This is intended to strengthen complex investigations and the processing of outstanding cyber incidents.

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Peter Henzler, Vice President at the Federal Criminal Police Office:

“Cybercrime is a mass phenomenon that is increasingly affecting not only private individuals but also the economy. Cyber ​​attacks are a profitable business area for criminals, in which they do not shy away from attacking critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, in order to maximize profits. The Federal Criminal Police Office is resolutely opposing this. Our successes against platforms like “Webstresser” or “Wall Street Market” prove this. But we don’t rest on our laurels. In the future, we want to involve IT specialists even more closely in criminal investigation work. To this end, new positions will be created in the Federal Criminal Police Office, which we will fill promptly as we build up the cybercrime department. Our goal is clear: We don't just want to be on equal terms with the perpetrators. We must get ahead of them to hold them accountable for their actions.”

Further information can be found in the current federal situation report

Source: Federal Criminal Police Office
Article image: Shutterstock / By BeeBright


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