The cyberattackswhich is increasingly carried out by foreign intelligence and not by criminals, cost nearly € 300 billion in the German economy in 2024, according to a survey published on Thursday.

As Reuters notes, the research carried out by Bitkom found that almost half of the companies that were able to identify the sources of attacks found traces in the Russia and Chinawhile about a quarter found traces in other European Union countries or the US.

“Traces are clearly and without a doubt east, with two countries at the forefront: Russia and China,” said Ralf Wintergerst, head of Bitkom, at a press conference, presenting a survey conducted by about 1,000 companies.

The shadow of global geopolitical competition, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has created a tougher cyberspace environment, with security services across the developed world reporting a large increase in the attacks that can be attributed to.

The ransomware – malware that locks the data until the victim pays to restore access – was the most common practice, with 34% having such attacks, from only 12% in 2022. One in seven companies paid ransom.

The big companies were mostly well prepared for cyberattacks, while small and medium -sized enterprises, which are the backbone of the German economy, often needed to do more.

“The boundaries between cybercrime and cyberback are becoming increasingly vague in cyberattacks,” said Sinan Selen, deputy head of the German BFV internal security service, at the same press conference. Iran and North Korea are also important sources of cyberattacks, he added.