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Munich (dpa) - The reinsurer Munich Re expects a further increase in online blackmail - with increasing dangers for the public infrastructure.
"Ransomware is still by far the most lucrative business model for cyber criminals," said Martin Kreuzer, the company's cybercrime specialist.
In an analysis published on Thursday, the company warns that attacks on power grids, medical systems or transport management could even endanger human life.
"Ransomware" refers to malicious encryption software that hackers use to paralyze computer networks in order to then extort large sums of money for unblocking it.
Dozens of hospitals in Germany have been attacked in this way in recent years.
Cases are known internationally in which the perpetrators demanded high double-digit million sums.
If an attacked organization refuses to pay, this is also expensive.
The costs of network downtime could be just as high as the ransom money paid, according to the Munich Re analysis.
Other common phenomena are data theft and online fraud.
It is unclear how much damage cyber crime causes worldwide.
Munich Re quotes an estimate by the US company Cybersecurity Ventures, according to which global damage will grow by 15 percent annually and could rise to 10.5 billion dollars by 2025.
"There are now kits for certain types of attacks on this market, the criminals no longer have to program anything themselves," said Kreuzer.
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According to FBI figures, the number of ransomware attacks in the US had risen by almost 150 percent in March 2020 alone.
"Covid-19 continues to be used to a large extent as a vehicle to start cyberattacks, because the interest in them is very high and this can be used to spread malware," said Kreuzer.
“More than ninety percent of all cyber attacks still start with a completely normal email.
What has changed is that the attacks are becoming more and more specialized. "
One aspect is real-looking emails from criminals who address their addressees personally and impersonate superiors or business partners in order to scam money, data or personal information.
Munich Re assumes that state hackers have also intensified their attacks.
"Covid-19 is like a magnifying glass that shows how nation states are trying to catch up with research deficits in the field of research and development, especially in vaccine and drug development," said Kreuzer.
“The area of logistics and vaccine distribution is also in the crosshairs.
My expectation would be that we will see a lot more in the future. "
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Munich Re does not specify which states it could be in the analysis.
China is mentioned particularly frequently in this context, most recently last week in connection with a large-scale international data theft that the US group Microsoft made public.
"It is all the more important for all risk takers to learn from incidents and to identify cybersecurity trends, threats and weaknesses," said Kreuzer.
Munich Re offers cyber insurance itself and, like its competitors, is assuming increasing demand.
"Insurers make their portfolios even more selective, we expect the highest security standards from customers and support them with effective protective measures for increased resilience and preparedness."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210311-99-774790 / 2