In a nutshell: Germany is Europe’s ransomware hotspot with nearly double the growth rate of France; its infrastructure and inadequate security awareness make it particularly attractive to criminals based in Russia.
According to cybersecurity expert Christian Dörr from the Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany is the most severely affected country in Europe by ransomware attacks. The growth rate is almost twice as high as in the second-most affected EU country, France; cybercriminal traces predominantly lead to Russia.
According to Dörr, 1,041 ransomware cases and extortion-related data breaches were reported nationwide in 2025, compared to 950 reports in 2024. Average ransom demands range in the hundreds of thousands of euros. This is compounded by economic damage from weeks-long downtime, which can push companies into bankruptcy. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) rates the threat from constantly new malware variants as high.
CISOs must understand that Germany is attractive to attackers: the country is home to numerous highly innovative world market leaders with valuable data. At the same time, Germany has suffered for years from a deficit in cybersecurity culture – in international comparisons, the Federal Republic is falling behind. Particularly critical are public administration and the healthcare sector: the increase in attacks on public authorities is currently disproportionate; hospitals pay the highest ransoms because attackers not only steal business data but also sensitive patient data, which is particularly valuable on the black market and leads to double extortion.
Russia serves as a safe base for these activities – there is little risk of prosecution or extradition as long as criminals choose their victims outside Russia. Industry observers report growing entanglement between private cybercriminals and state actors: states use cybercrime as an additional source of income, while experts from state cyber operations earn money privately after hours.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published 24 June 2026
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