In recent times, many developed nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have refrained from publicly identifying their cyber adversaries, understanding that doing so might inadvertently provide these adversaries with a significant advantage on the global stage.
However, there has been a significant shift in this approach as Germany steps forward to become the first nation to officially criticize both Russia and China for the notable increase in cyber attacks targeting its national infrastructure. These attacks have surged by an alarming 37%, resulting in a staggering annual economic loss of $224 billion (€206 billion). The most common forms of cyber attacks encountered by Germany include data theft, network disruptions, and espionage.
A study conducted by Bitkom, the digital watchdog based in Berlin, revealed that nearly 46% of cyber attacks witnessed last year against German companies originated from Russia and China. Out of the 1,000 recorded digital assaults, over 33% were attributed to Russia, while China accounted for 23% of the attacks.
The concerning trend indicates that the attack rate is expected to further escalate in the current year, 2023, with ransomware attacks driven by increasing sophistication constituting the majority of recorded offenses. These attacks are projected to result in annual economic losses of approximately $160 billion for companies unless concerted efforts are made by both the government and private sector to effectively counter and prevent these state-sponsored attacks.
A perplexing aspect highlighted in this survey is that 38% of the victimized companies, upon launching a third-party forensic investigation, were unable to pinpoint the exact origin of the attacks. This underscores the ability of hackers to obfuscate their activities using advanced technology or the hiring of criminals from other developing nations to disrupt national computer networks.
Sinan Selen, the Vice President of German Domestic Intelligence Services, emphasized that only a mere 3% of these attacks were successfully detected. The origin of other attacks remains challenging to trace, as hackers employ tools that are exceptionally difficult to monitor, making it nearly impossible to identify their precise location of origin down to a specific district or province.
