According to insurance company Allianz, criminal hackers remain the biggest concern for companies around the world. In the new edition of the annual international ‘Risk Barometer’, cyber attacks are once again in first place. Business interruptions come in second. Both categories are closely linked, because attacks by hackers with blackmail software often paralyze business operations. The company published the report on Tuesday in Munich.
Natural disasters rank third this year and have clearly become more important in the minds of the 3,069 internationally surveyed managers and experts. A year ago, floods, storms, earthquakes and other natural events ranked sixth.
Last fall, Allianz Commercial surveyed executives, security professionals, insurance brokers and other risk experts from 92 countries, both from external companies and associations and from within the company. More than a third – 1,340 in total – of the participants work for large companies with annual revenues of more than half a billion dollars.
Hackers are also using new AI tools
According to the “Risk Barometer”, criminal hackers are also abusing language models powered by artificial intelligence, which have caused an international sensation since the public launch of ChatGTP in the fall of 2022. Cybercriminals use AI applications, among other things, for larger and faster attacks with blackmail software (“ransomware”), for programming new malware and for less easily recognizable phishing emails and forgeries.
“However, the increase in ransomware attacks in 2023 was enormous,” said Jens Krickhahn, head of the cyber division at Allianz Commercial. In the first half of the year alone, the number of claims increased by more than half. The authors of the ‘Risk Barometer’ assume that the wave of cybercrime will continue into 2024.
Germany deviates somewhat from the international sphere: it was not natural disasters that came in third place among the 454 managers and experts surveyed in Germany, but rather changes in laws and regulations. And a risk that was previously not in the top ten places in Germany has moved up to ninth place: “New in the top ten here in Germany are the political risks and violence, which was not the case last year,” said Michael Furtschegger. regional head of Allianz Commercial for Germany and Switzerland.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
