Latest news with #Bitkom
Reuters
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Pro-Russian, anti-Israeli hackers pose biggest cybercrime threats in Germany
BERLIN, June 3 (Reuters) - Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it. "Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security," said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. "It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional," he said. Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said. The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions. Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024. German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totalled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year. Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies. ($1 = 0.8760 euros)
Straits Times
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Pro-Russian, anti-Israeli hackers pose biggest cybercrime threats in Germany
BERLIN - Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it. "Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security," said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. "It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional," he said. Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said. The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions. Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024. German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totalled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year. Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SAP head says AI will cut routine but won't destroy German jobs
Artificial intelligence (AI) will not destroy jobs in Germany, the head of Bitkom, the association of Germany's IT sector, predicted on Sunday. While demand for workers would be reduced overall, this was no reason for concern in the light of a lack of skilled workers in Germany, Bitkom chief executive Bernhard Rohleder told outlets of the Funke Media Group. "This can be said for Germany: that AI will not have any negative effects on the jobs market for the foreseeable future," he said. "There will be jobs that will scarcely be done by people in the future, such as technical translations or simple office work, such as taking notes, completing protocols or standard correspondence," he said. Administrations already lacked more than half a million workers, he said. AI would increase competitiveness and productivity in admin departments and public service, he predicted. The situation was different in countries with more young people, Rohleder said. Christian Klein, chief executive of business software giant SAP, said his company saw AI as an opportunity. The focus was now on training staff and new value creation, he said. SAP had been able to boost developers' productivity by 30%, Klein said. "Monotonous routine tasks will fall away, freeing up time for creative thinking and genuine value creation," he said. Klein was reacting to comments from Dario Amodei, head of US AI company Anthropic, who has predicted mass unemployment and the destruction of millions of jobs in the United States.
DW
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- DW
Young Europeans are growing tired of smartphones – DW – 05/25/2025
A British survey found that almost half of young people polled would prefer growing up without the internet, with a majority welcoming a social media curfew. What's behind this? The Offline Club Instagram account has almost 530,000 followers. This seems almost ironic, as The Offline Club promotes taking a conscious break from social media, including Instagram. "Swap screen time for real time" is the slogan used by the event management company's three Dutch founders, Ilya Kneppelhout, Jordy van Bennekom and Valentijn Klok. Their aim is to use The Offline Club to "reconnect people with themselves and others through real-world communities and authentic, offline experiences." For the past year, the three have organized meetups during which smartphones and laptops were not allowed. "Are you ready to ditch your phone?" they ask in a pinned reel on Instagram. Apparently, more and more people are willing to switch off their phones — at least for these organized events. Instead of taking their smartphones out, people read, play games, do arts and crafts or relax for a few hours. Workshops, called Digital Detox Retreats, take several days. "We envision a world in which phone-free spaces and offline communities are the norm," the three founders write on their website . The Dutch concept has been spreading worldwide over the last year. Amsterdam was one of the first locations, then came London, Paris, Milan and Copenhagen. Berlin has also hosted the first meetings of this kind. Also, a growing number of restaurants and clubs have been asking their guests to leave cellphones at home. TikTok-Brain – What social media does to our concentration To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video More people want to spend less time online, studies find The Dutch founders seem to have struck a nerve. After all, young people in particular often find it difficult to switch off their smartphones despite having all the settings that could limit their usage time. Even the return of the "boring phone" without apps has not been able to seriously displace smartphones, despite being celebrated on social networks. According to figures by the German industry association Bitkom from the end of 2024, people aged 16-29 spend more than three hours per day on their smartphones. That is the highest usage time of all age groups, and the actual duration is probably even longer. Young people spend three hours per day on their smartphones, most likely even more Image: Wolfram Steinberg/dpa/picture alliance Yet, a large number of young people would like to spend significantly less time on their smartphones. According to a new survey by the British Standards Institution, almost 70% of the 1,293 people aged 16-21 feel worse when they spend time on social media. Half would be in favor of a "digital curfew" that would restrict access to certain apps and websites after 10 p.m. Around 46% even stated that they would have preferred to be young in a world without the internet. These results align with other surveys, such as the one Harris Poll, an American polling institute, conducted in late 2024 . In that survey, many young people wished that TikTok, Instagram or X had never been invented. Explainer: Why Meta's monopoly is dangerous for you To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Political protection On Tuesday, British Technology Minister Peter Kyle hinted at considering mandatory curfews , according to The Guardian newspaper. Norway wants to raise the age limit for the use of social media from 13 to 15. As a global pioneer, Australia already raised the age limit to 16 in late 2024. Other countries, such as Denmark, ban tablets and smartphones almost entirely from schoolyards. In 2024, Danish Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye said the country had been naive in its approach to digitalization. Australia has banned children under the age of 16 from social media Image: William West/AFP/Getty Images Harmful effects of smartphone use Excessive smartphone use is further associated with various mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders and addictive behavior. A study published in the journal BMC Medicine earlier this year found that depressive symptoms decreased by 27% after three weeks of reduced smartphone use. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, young people's mental health has deteriorated dramatically over the past 15 years. This trend was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, when digital media was increasingly used. However, the OECD also stated that research has not yet been able to prove any direct causality between those two factors. The founders of the Dutch Offline Club want to take action and expand their meetups. Offline events are increasingly happening in different cities. In early April, over 1,000 people switched off their phones and smiled happily into the camera in London. This marks a new record, the offline influencers proudly declared — on Instagram, of course. This article was originally written in German.
DW
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- DW
Young adults in Europe are putting away smartphones – DW – 05/25/2025
A British survey found that almost half of young adults would prefer to live in a time without the Internet. One startup from the Netherlands is trying to accommodate such people by organizing offline meetups. The Offline Club Instagram account has almost 530,000 followers. This seems almost ironic, as The Offline Club promotes taking a conscious break from social media, including Instagram. "Swap screen time for real time" is the slogan used by the event management company's three Dutch founders, Ilya Kneppelhout, Jordy van Bennekom and Valentijn Klok. Their aim is to use The Offline Club to "reconnect people with themselves and others through real-world communities and authentic, offline experiences." For the past year, the three have organized meetups during which smartphones and laptops were not allowed. "Are you ready to ditch your phone?" they ask in a pinned reel on Instagram. Apparently, more and more people are willing to switch off their cellphones, at least for these organized events. Instead of taking their smartphones out, people read, play games, do arts and crafts or relax for a few hours. Workshops, called Digital Detox Retreats, take several days. "We envision a world in which phone-free spaces and offline communities are the norm," the three founders write on their website . The Dutch concept has been spreading worldwide over the last year. Amsterdam was one of the first locations, then came London, Paris, Milan and Copenhagen. Berlin also hosted the first meetings of this kind. Also, a growing number of restaurants and clubs ask their guests to leave cellphones at home. TikTok-Brain – What social media does to our concentration To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video More people want to spend less time online, studies find The Dutch founders seem to have struck a nerve. After all, young people in particular often find it difficult to switch off their smartphones despite having all the settings that could limit their usage time. Even the return of the "boring phone" without apps has not been able to seriously displace smartphones despite being celebrated on social networks. According to figures by the German industry association Bitkom from the end of 2024, people aged 16-29 spend more than three hours per day on their smartphones. That is the highest usage time of all age groups, and the actual duration is probably even longer. Young people spend three hours per day on their smartphones, most likely even more Image: Wolfram Steinberg/dpa/picture alliance Yet, a large number of young people would like to spend significantly less time on their smartphones. According to a new survey by the British Standards Institution (BSI), almost 70% of the 1,293 people aged 16-21 feel worse when they spend time on social media. Half would be in favor of a "digital curfew" that would restrict access to certain apps and websites after 10 p.m. Around 46% even stated that they would have preferred to be young in a world without the internet. These results align with other surveys, such as the one Harris Polls, an American polling institute, conducted in late 2024 . In that survey, many young people wished that TikTok, Instagram or X had never been invented. Explainer: Why Meta's monopoly is dangerous for you To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Political protection On Tuesday, British Technology Minister Peter Kyle hinted at considering mandatory curfews , according to The Guardian newspaper. Norway wants to raise the age limit for the use of social media from 13 to 15. As a global pioneer, Australia already raised the age limit to 16 in late 2024. Other countries, such as Denmark, ban tablets and smartphones almost entirely from schoolyards. In 2024, Danish Minister of Education Mattias Tesfaye said that the country had been in its approach to digitalization. Australia has banned children under the age of 16 from social media Image: William West/AFP/Getty Images Harmful effects of smartphone use Excessive smartphone use is further associated with various mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders and addictive behavior. A study published in the journal BMC Medicine earlier this year found that depressive symptoms decreased by 27% after three weeks of reduced smartphone use. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), young people's mental health has deteriorated dramatically over the past 15 years. This trend was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, when digital media was increasingly used. However, the OECD also stated that research has not yet been able to prove any direct causality between those two factors. On the other hand, the founders of the Dutch Offline Club want to take action and expand their meetups. Offline events are increasingly happening in different cities. In early April, over 1,000 people switched off their cell phones and smiled happily into the camera in London. This marks a new record, the offline influencers proudly declared, of course, on Instagram. This article was originally published in German.
