Pandemic provides breeding ground for cybercrime: sharp rise in offenses

The state government published the "Report on Cyber Security in North Rhine-Westphalia 2021" on Tuesday (December 13, 2022). This provides an overview of security-relevant topics in the digital space and provides information on new developments in the area of cybercrime. The report accompanies the implementation of the cybersecurity strategy for North Rhine-Westphalia until 2024 and is prepared annually by the Cybersecurity Coordination Office at the Ministry of the Interior with the participation of all departments.

The number of cybercrime cases rose significantly last year. In 2021, 30,115 cybercrime cases were recorded, an increase of 24% compared to the previous year. In 2020, 24,294 cybercrime offenses were recorded. An opposing trend can be seen here: While the general crime figures have been falling for years, criminal activities in the digital space are on the rise. In addition to hacker attacks on private networks, espionage attacks on public authorities are also part of the broadly defined offense area of cybercrime.

"The main reason for the increase in the number of cases is probably that many everyday activities have shifted to the digital space - whether online shopping, distance learning or video conferencing. Sensitive data is finding its way into the World Wide Web without a second thought. In this way, every internet user unknowingly increases the attack surface for criminals," said Minister Reul.

Cyberattacks by foreign services still played a subordinate role in the 2021 reporting year, before Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Activities in the area of hybrid warfare are expected to be the focus of the 2022 report.

In its report, the Cybersecurity Coordination Unit focuses on two trends that demonstrably experienced strong growth during the period under review: Firstly, the increasing spread of the "Internet of Things" (IoT) is opening up new gateways for cyber criminals. Users connect their private home devices to applications that can be controlled via the internet. For example, an app can be used to switch on the light or control the washing machine in the basement.

"There are particular security risks if the 'digital everyday helpers' are not password-protected. External parties could then remotely control the IoT devices, for example," warns Minister Reul.

The second focus of the report is on so-called "ransomware". This is encryption software that is used for blackmail crimes. Valuable data is encrypted or stolen via email attachments or links. This can be followed by blackmail and ransom demands.

In the police crime statistics, the two offenses are listed as computer fraud and software piracy. The amount of damage for 2021 in North Rhine-Westphalia alone is around 24 million euros. Experts also suspect a high number of unreported cases. At the same time, 34.7 million spam emails were rejected in the state administration's network in 2021.

You can find the cyber security report at the following link:
https://www.cybersicherheit.nrw/de/bericht-zur-cybersicherheit-nrw-2021