The vast majority of companies in Germany and many other countries fear a cyber attack. In a company survey by the reinsurer Munich Re in 15 countries, 72 percent of the participating managing directors and board members responded that they were worried or very worried about possible cyber attacks, as the Munich DAX group announced.

More than half admitted that their company had already been attacked by cybercriminals in the past. Data theft was the top priority, followed by online fraud and extortion using encryption software.

In December, Munich Re had a total of 7,500 managers and employees surveyed by the statistics company Statista; almost 40 percent of the participants were “C-level” managers in the upper management echelons of their respective companies.

Concern is significantly lower in Sweden and higher in Spain

However, not all managers in all countries were equally concerned: in Sweden it was only 35 percent, while in Spain it was 90 percent. In Germany it was almost two thirds at 65 percent, roughly comparable to the USA, Great Britain or Japan.

An even larger majority of 87 percent believe that their own company is inadequately protected against cyber attacks, and in this respect the differences from country to country were less pronounced: in Germany and China at the top of the table, 95 percent each said yes, while in Italy at the other end it was still 80 percent.

Munich Re has a vested interest in the topic, as the group offers insurance against cyber attacks and expects the insurance industry's global premium income in the cyber sector to double in the coming years: from 14 billion dollars in 2023 to 29 billion in 2029. The authors However, the report also mentions that many companies have not taken out cyber insurance because the costs are too high or for other reasons.