German Minister of Interior of Lower Saxony visits Europol

Minister Boris Pistorius from Lower Saxony, who is currently the chairperson of all federal Interior Ministers in Germany, has paid a visit to Europol.

The Minister briefed Europol Director Wainwright about a new German study into unreported crime, which is the first of its kind in Germany. One of the striking findings is that 9% of respondents reported that they were victims of a cybercrime in 2012. If all victims had reported the incidents to the police in Lower Saxony, there would have been 225 700 cases - in actual fact, only 20 311 were reported to the police. This clearly shows how the real extent of cybercrime is not known.

Wainwright stressed that it is therefore of utmost importance that institutions, be it government or private sector, work closely together to combat cybercrime.