Following technical problems, websites at chambers of commerce and industry in several German states went down or were deliberately shut down on Thursday. It is possible that this was a cyberattack. Many computers were shut down for security reasons. After a tip-off from Dortmund in the morning about a DDos attack, in which the target systems are bombarded with data by hackers until they give up their service, many chambers went offline as a precaution. Contact via e-mail and telephone was no longer possible and online forms for companies were not available.
Ralf Bender, CEO of European insurance and risk expert Südvers, wrote: “Today’s DDoS attack on chambers of industry and commerce across Germany underpins the level of digital threat that businesses face on a daily basis. Companies must continuously prepare to defend against cyberattacks with comprehensive hardening of their own IT, regular penetration tests and recurring employee training. The only way to close the digital loopholes for hackers is to provide employees with tailored, individual training. In view of the high cost of dealing with a cyberattack, cyber insurance is becoming the property insurance of the 21st century.”