80 percent of German companies said they had been affected by data or IT theft, industrial espionage or sabotage in the past twelve months. 45 percent of companies attributed cyber attacks or other acts of industrial espionage to China, according to a survey conducted on Wednesday.

A survey conducted by Bitkom, the German IT industry association, also found that Russia was blamed for 39 percent of the attacks.

However, this figure is lower than the previous 46%, and for China the figure is three percentage points higher than the last survey in 2023.

According to the survey, the damage suffered by the German economy over the past 12 months from industrial espionage, including cybercrime, amounted to up to 267 billion euros (297 billion dollars), 29 percent more than the previous year.

What does Bitkom say?

Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said the figures show “how conflict-ridden and tense the world is today.”

Wintergerst said German and Chinese companies are closely intertwined in a globalized economy and this situation is expected to continue in the coming years.

“What has been built up over decades in terms of supply chains, joint ventures and other structures cannot be reversed in just a few years. That is simply impossible,” he said.

Wintergerst said that given the increasing threat to the German economy, companies would have to set aside more money to protect themselves against cybercrime and industrial espionage.

Companies surveyed reported increasing the average amount allocated to digital security in their IT budgets to 17 percent (compared to 14 percent last year), but just over a third said they have contingency plans in place in the event of security incidents in their supply chain.

Economic love-hate relationship with China

China remains an important economic partner for Germany, but is also perceived as a rival.

Among other things, there was great concern in industry circles in recent months after it became known that Chinese hackers had been spying on the German car giant Volkswagen for years.

In addition, Germany and other Western countries are increasingly cautious not to fall into the trap of relying too heavily on one country for the supply of vital products, as happened to them in the energy market with Russia.

Nevertheless, German investments in China have continued to increase, despite government warnings to “de-risk” relations with the Asian industrial giant.

tj/sms (Reuters, dpa)

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