Cyber-Crime | IT Specialists Bielefeld, Germany

In line with the worldwide digitalisation, the subject of IT-security is gaining ever greater significance. Our IT specialists from Bielefeld provide advisory services: +49 521 2567 0055. 

Cyber-security for companies more important than ever

As the Cyber-Security Report 2015 (Carried out by Deutsche Telekom) reveals, decision-makers from politics and economy, including 113 parliamentarians and 532 executives, regard damage caused by computer viruses and data fraud on the internet as the greatest threats of all domains. Other frequently cited risks related to the IT sector show the fear of data-misuse through social networks (63 percent) and via large firms (52 percent) as well as surveillance by secret services of one’s own or foreign states (49 percent). Likewise, the respondents’ assessment of the currently rising risks underlines the dangerousness of data-misuse: no less than 36 percent of the businessmen and politicians regard this as the greatest danger for the future,

A full 46 percent of the affected companies in Germany in 2015 regularly — several times a month, weekly or even daily — had to contend with attacks from the World Wide Web and thus prove that the great concern is not unjustified.The fact that many of the online attacks aimed at companies can be cleared up does not alter the fact that most of these criminal machinations are discovered not immediately but often only several months later, by which time considerable losses have frequently already occurred.The German economy suffers annually damage of 51 billion euros arising from industrial espionage alone — a sum which could have been significantly reduced through early detection and timely intervention, for example by the use of our economic detectives and IT specialists based in Bielefeld.

Virtual attack — material damage

A ray of hope exists: after all, 82 percent of Germany’s large enterprises employ permanently-engaged IT staff, and in a total of 64 percent of all companies IT-security concepts exist or are at least in planning. However, only 21 percent of small firms (10 to 50 employees) have their own IT-specialists employed. This small proportion in small businesses is surprising, since the Cyber-Security Report shows that, regardless of the size of the company, 90 percent of respondents assign a high or very high value to IT-security. However, nearly half of the surveyed entrepreneurs report difficulties in filling the free IT positions, which means that the work of our IT-specialists of the Kurtz Investigations Bielefeld is becoming ever more in the spotlight of many enterprises.

A paradox of the Telekom Report reveals itself in the discrepancy between the fear of threats from the net or even the majority already experienced damage by cyber-crime and the nevertheless by and large only low (60 percent) evaluation of the risk of a serious damage. Our economic detectives of Kurtz Investigations Bielefeld in fact quite often experience that their clients regard the damage caused by hackers as trivial and not as a danger to their own innovations, whereby urgent clarification in the area of damage sums and consequential complications is required. 

Better to take precautions than be left behind — IT-specialists help in Bielefeld and East Westphalia

The mis-evaluation or self-over-confidence of many entrepreneurs is shown particularly by the high percentage (60 percent) of those who believe they are as well prepared as possible for potential attacks and regard their IT-system as little vulnerable. 16 percent of the companies entrust their own IT departments and computer-specialists with monitoring their security system, while only 3 percent of company-directors employ external IT-specialists such as those of the Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld. In that regard there is a clear need for optimisation, especially since in a total of almost 80 percent of the companies the management or the divisional leaders hierarchically directly below the management are charged with the security of information and communication, yet in the rarest case actually possess the technical know-how for a secure and well-functioning system.

Another interesting and equally important point in the Cyber-Security Report 2015 is the increased demand among the surveyed parliamentarians and entrepreneurs for better support and promotion by the state in the fight against IT-threats. Only 16 percent of the recorded firms are integrated into inter-company security systems or in state-organised initiatives for better digital protection. In comparison to 2013 only 29 percent of the respondents felt sufficiently supported by the state, while the demand for promotion increased by 12 percent and is now voiced by more than half of the respondents. Such support could be, for example, of a financial nature in the creation of a security concept or through tax advantages when engaging external companies such as the Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld, which with its IT-specialists and corporate detectives is naturally happy to take on this task.

Security has its price

The rising IT-costs for companies, which were determined in relation to the steadily progressing digitalisation for 85 percent of respondents, are well invested, even if the investment may hurt initially. Our Bielefeld economic detectives repeatedly encounter in their clients that securing and protecting the firm’s own innovations, information, data and communication cannot be offset against the money which has to be spent for the establishment of security measures, and that therefore these precautions represent by far more than merely a necessary evil. Since 31 percent of entrepreneurs and politicians indicated that they were unsure because of the rapid advances in the IT industry regarding the extent of their required investments, this uncertainty can be alleviated by consulting or engaging the IT-specialists and economic detectives of the Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld: +49 521 2567 0055.

In times of Industry 4.0 and the associated ever-stronger interconnection and automation 87 percent of respondents fear hacker-attacks on internal company IT-systems; this fear can only be countered by good protection from all sides. Whatever the company deals with, a uniform and consistent security system is indispensable for smooth operation in the company, for protecting the firm’s own innovations and for holding one’s ground against competitor-firms in the market — the IT-department of the Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld stands ready for this: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-bielefeld.de.