German businesses have been urged to take the threat of cyber attacks more seriously, after a survey revealed almost one-fifth of firms had been affected, costing the country's economy €43bn ($ $50 billion ). German security officials have long been sounding the alarm about the risk of well-resourced foreign spy agencies using cyber attacks to steal the advanced manufacturing techniques that have made Germany one of the world’s leading exporters. The survey from industry association Bitkom demonstrated risk "across the spectrum", while one-third of the two-thirds respondents said mobile phones had been stolen, while 19 percent admitted to the loss of "sensitive data". In addition, two-thirds said their IT systems had been digitally sabotaged.
German businesses have been urged to take the threat of cyber attacks more seriously, after a survey revealed almost one-fifth of firms had been affected, costing the country's economy €43bn ($ $50 billion ). The survey from industry association Bitkom demonstrated risk "across the spectrum", while one-third of the two-thirds respondents said mobile phones had been stolen, while 19 percent admitted to the loss of "sensitive data". In addition, two-thirds said their IT systems had been digitally sabotaged.