Too small to be chopped?

Which companies were attacked in 2024?

You think your company is too small and uninteresting for hackers? Unfortunately, this is not true, because regardless of whether you are an SME, listed on the stock exchange or part of the critical infrastructure: Every company has data that hackers want to steal. 

Nowadays, it is no longer people who are behind cyber attacks, but programs created with artificial intelligence, machine learning and so on. These look for vulnerabilities and security gaps. The moment they are found, the size of your company no longer matters! Just in May 24, a small company in Bad Wörishofen was hacked and paid a ransom of over EUR 30,000.

Of course, such algorithms are programmed by cyber criminals and what these hackers have over all of us: An extremely good understanding of systems! They understand at various levels of the system — hardware, operating system, software — how the individual components interact with each other and where there are potential weak points. And this coupled with an “attacker mindset” is a disastrous mixture.

In 2023, many German companies fell victim to a cyberattack. And 2024 will not be any easier, as the threat from cyber criminals has increased further. By May of this year, the following companies, among others, had been successfully attacked:

• Authorities Websites Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
• Wehrle Werk AG (plant manufacturer)
• Lempken GmbH & Co KG (agricultural machinery manufacturer)
• Max Wild GmbH (construction and logistics company)
• Ringhofer gearing technology
• Kampf GmbH (slitting and winding technology)
• PSI Software GmbH (IT service provider)
• Varta AG (Battery manufacturer)
• Salamander shoes
• KIND hearing aids
• AnyDesk (Remote Desktop Partner)
• Alzura (B2B automotive platform)
• Gräbener machine technology
• Bieler & Lang (gas detection and warning systems)

The list goes on and on. Hackers do not stop at Christian, state and municipal institutions, foundations or hospitals. The consequences of the attacks were operational disruptions followed by loss of sales, high costs for data recovery and reputational damage. Or ransom money, as in the case of the Allgäu SME.

Any management still thinking that a cyberattack on their own company will not happen should rethink.  

Would you like to know what security gaps and vulnerabilities exist in your company? Use our test installation and find out!