Germany is facing a huge increase in the numbers of hacking cases.
The German government registered 82,649 cases of computer fraud, espionage and other cyber crimes in 2016, an increase of just over 80 percent from 2015.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere is due to release the new statistics, part of the government’s annual crime report, on Monday, according to Die Welt.
In addition to cybercrime, German police also registered 253,290 cases of crimes carried out with the help of the internet, an increase of 3.6 percent from 2015, the newspaper reported.
While it is possible that there is a sudden rise in the numbers of disaffected youth who want to stick it to the man, it is more likely the figure represents a move by organised crime to lift cash from companies.
The rise coincides with a move by Eastern German and Russian mafia types to switch to internet extortion which is easier than hitting people with lead pipes and less noisy than shooting them.
“That is a very pretty server you have there Hans, it would be a pity if anything happened to it.”