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Number of break-ins hits 16-year high

The number of burglaries has once again risen in Germany. Police figures released on Monday show an estimated 2 percent increase in the number of break-ins nationwide.

Published: 13 April 2015 17:57 CEST

Number of break-ins hits 16-year high

Photo: DPA

The rise in burglaries in 2014 made it the eighth year in succession in which incidence of the crime has gone up.

In total 152,000 incidents were reported to the police during the year, the highest level in the last 16 years.

In ten of Germany's 16 federal states, the number of burglaries rose in comparison with 2013, according to statistics provided by individual states.

The highest increase came in Bavaria, where incidence of the crime rose by 30 percent. In both Baden-Württemberg and Saarland, the burglary rate rose by over 20 percent.

“The good news is that 40 percent of burgalries fail during the attempt,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière of the Christian Democrats (CDU) told Bild. “That shows that securing our properties helps.”

The interior minister suggested he would support material incentives whereby investment in anti-burglary systems would be deducted against tax.

Still, the increase of 2 percent was less than that in 2013 when the number of burglaries rose by 4 percent over the previous year.

But there was good news from six states.

Thuringia showed a 17.2 percent decrease in the rate of burglary.

Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia also showed smaller decreases in the rate of the crime (6.9 and 3.9 percent respectively.)

The Bavarian Interior Ministry released a statement saying: “We have seen a sharp increase in the rate of burglary, but it comes from a comparatively low base level.”

The rate of 65 burglaries per 100,000 residents in 2014 is a third of the national rate, the statement said.

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Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

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