Cyber risk in focus: companies have to prepare for themselves!
Cyber risk in focus: companies have to prepare for themselves!
On April 16, 2025, the opening event of the event series on cybersecurity took place in the Meschede district house. The initiative aims to raise awareness of companies from the manufacturing trade, the craft and the IT industry as well as administrations and citizens to the challenges of digital security. Frank Linnekugel, Managing Director of the Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Hochsauerlandkreis (WFG HSK), is exploring the event with a comprehensive overview of the urgency of the topic.
In this context, René Rudat, project manager of production.digital.südwestfalen-Plus, presented various support offers that are intended to promote digitization in production processes. This includes qualification workshops, information events and the free use of an IoT box. A central topic of the event was the lecture by Dr. Christian Reinhardt, Director of Human Risk Management at Sosafe, who spoke about "Dark Art of Manipulation". The key message of his lecture was that cyber attacks often aim at human weaknesses, with examples such as emotionally controlled phishing and AI-based attacks.The dangers of cybercrime
Inna Claus, chief crime commissioner at the State Criminal Police Office North Rhine -Westphalia, spoke in the second lecture on "Cybercrime - an underestimated danger". She emphasized the threats from ransomware, identity theft and business espionage. Claus emphasized how crucial prevention, emergency plans and the close cooperation with security authorities are to support companies in the fight against cybercrime. In the face of increasing threats, such an enlightenment is essential.
Current statistics underpin the relevance of these topics. According to a study by the digital association Bitkom, the number of cyber attacks on German companies continued to increase in 2024. The proud 74 % of companies reported data theft, whereby the total damage is estimated by cybercrime to 178.6 billion euros. Ransomware and phishing attacks occur particularly frequently.
outlook on further events
The next event of the series will take place on April 29, 2025 in the Sauerland Museum and will deal with topics such as regulatory requirements (CRA & NIS2) and the cyber emergency plan. Further dates will follow: On May 13, 2025, threats and risk trends are on the plan, followed by a workshop to modern security technologies on June 3, 2025.
All events are free of charge and are aimed at interested companies, but the number of participants is limited. Registrations are possible at Wirtschaftsfoerderung-hsk.de . For questions, René Rudat is available as contact person: email: rene.rudat@hochsauerlandkreis.de , phone: 0291 94 1815.
The challenges of cyber attacks not only pose a danger to companies, but also mean a problem for society as a whole. Therefore, sensitization and joint action is essential to ensure the digital sovereignty of the economy. In the current situation, IT security is increasingly regarded as part of this sovereignty, with companies already investing 17 % of their IT budget in security measures. Nevertheless, the need for effective emergency plans and increased cooperation between the economy and security authorities remains high. The upcoming events open up an important platform for the exchange of knowledge and strategies.
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