Two-thirds of German industry hit by digital crime, survey finds

The most common offence was the simple theft of equipment such as computers, smartphones or tablets, but a fifth of companies surveyed reported that sensitive documents, components or designs had been stolen, while 18 percent said their production had been sabotaged with the aim of damaging or paralyzing it.

Such crimes cost German manufacturing industry more than 22 billion euros ($25 billion) a year, Bitkom estimated following its survey of 504 German manufacturing companies with at least 10 employees.

"With the digitization of production and the networking of machines over the Internet, new contact points arise that are vulnerable to attack," Winfried Holz, a Bitkom executive committee member, said in a statement issued at the Hannover Messe industry trade fair.

"German industry, with its numerous hidden champions, is an attractive target for cybercriminals and foreign intelligence services," he added. Germany has hundreds of small and medium-sized family-owned manufacturers that are world leaders in their niche.

Bitkom said the 69 percent of manufacturing companies affected by cybercrime was a far higher proportion than the 51 percent average for German companies in general.

About 70 percent of the machinery and equipment manufacturers surveyed said they had been victims, 68 percent of chemicals and pharmaceuticals producers, 65 percent of electronics makers and 61 percent of carmakers.

Cybercriminality was most often found in production or assembly, with 36 percent of reported cases, followed by 30 percent in warehousing and logistics, 29 percent in IT and 23 percent in research and development.

($1 = 0.8909 euros)

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Rene Wagner; Editing by Nerys Avery/Ruth Pitchford)