Cyber crime in Germany
Consumers are more afraid of hackers than burglars
Cybercrime crimes are becoming more and more common in Germany.
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Cybercrime cases are increasing. Many people are more afraid of hackers than of intruders.
With the advancing digitization of many areas of life, cybercrime is also increasing in Germany. For many people, the fear of an online attack is even greater than the fear of burglars.
More and more cases
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the number of cybercrime-related offenses recorded in police crime statistics continues to rise. The BKA registered almost 108,500 offenses in 2020. This corresponds to an increase of 7.9 percent compared to 2019 (around 100,500 cases). In 2018 there were still around 87,100 recorded cases, in 2017 just under 86,000 and in 2016 around 82,650.
39 percent of Internet users are even more afraid of network crime than of breaking into their own homes. This is the result of a survey on behalf of the industry association Bitkom among almost 1,200 people aged 16 and over in Germany. 58 percent of those surveyed stated that they could not adequately protect their devices from attacks themselves. 63 percent believe they would not notice if they were being spied on. 75 percent are afraid of infecting their devices with malware and 56 percent fear that criminals could illegally use their accounts or passwords.
What to do about intruders
“Anyone who is on the Internet should always act carefully and think about security. The methods of criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated and their approach is becoming more and more professional,” explains Sebastian Artz, an expert in information security and security policy at Bitkom.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) delivers on his website a basic overview of important things to keep in mind. Users should always update the software they are using to keep them up to date and use passwords that are as secure as possible. A firewall can deter attackers and virus protection programs search for a possible infection. Two-factor authentication is also advisable. In order to gain access to a certain service, users not only have to type in their password, but also receive, for example, an SMS with an additional code generated.