Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) released its annual threat report Thursday, sounding the alarm over risks presented by computer viruses and ransomware attacks.
Speaking in Berlin alongside Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, BSI President Arne Schönbohm said his agency had detected 144 million new malware variants between June 2020 to the end of May 2021 — up 22% for the year.
The Bonn-based BSI, which is part of the Interior Ministry, said that in February of this year it detected 553,000 malware variants in a single day — a new record. Its report noted that it had raised the general threat level posed by malicious computer attacks from “tense” last year to “tense-to-critical.”