The latest hacker attack clearly shows that E-Crime is still underestimated.

The report spread like wildfire around the world: A few weeks ago, Hacker had launched a global cyber attack on Microsoft operating systems and caught companies like Deutsche Bahn, Renault and Telefonica. The hackers worked with a Ransomware, which restricted the access to the computer or completely prevented. Only through the payment of ransom, the blackmailers release the computers again.

This attack shows once again that many companies and even corporations underestimate Internet crime. It remains a high risk. For two years, the number of companies affected has been constant. Four out of ten companies still become victims of this form of crime. In successful attacks, the damage can amount to several million euros. This has been the case with every 20th company. At roughly three-quarters of the companies, the loss was around 250,000 euros. This is the result of a study by the consultancy company KPMG.

Criminals can mostly rely on human misconduct. For example, 87 percent of the over 500 interviewed businesses said cybercrime still favors carelessness. It can be concluded that even today many employees are not dealing with confidential data sensitively enough. This starts with the handling of e-mails. But also a weak security culture in the company contributes to successful attacks. 78 percent have an insufficient risk understanding.

In many cases, cybersecurity in companies and enterprises can often be achieved with just a few measures. The Federal Office for Information Security is, for example, helpful. The Authority provides guidance on the various issues and also provides advice on setting up comprehensive safety measures. Anyone who implements this is able to react to the next large-scale attack.