Nearly Four in Ten German Companies Attribute Attacks to Foreign Intelligence Services, Bitkom Survey Finds
A Bitkom survey of 1,003 German companies found that nearly 40% of firms hit by data theft, industrial espionage or sabotage over the past year attributed at least one incident to a foreign intelligence service — up from 28% last year and 7% in 2023 — making foreign intelligence the second-most commonly blamed attacker behind organised crime. China was the most frequently cited foreign source, Russia second, and Iran roughly one in ten.
Germany's domestic intelligence chief, Sinan Selen, said foreign services "have intensified their hybrid activities", with the security and defence industry a particularly attractive target. Bitkom estimated cyberattacks cost German businesses between US$186 billion and US$240 billion over the past year, and warned the lines between organised crime and state intelligence are blurring. The survey landed the same week the NSA launched an alumni-reunion recruitment drive, together signalling a hardening of allied espionage assessments.