According to the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI – Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik) recorded an increase in the number of cybersecurity incidents affecting key infrastructure in 2018. In the last six months of 2018, the BSI office reportedly recorded 157 attacks on utilities and infrastructure. Nineteen of those attacks were directed at electricity network operators. In 2017, there were only 145 attacks in the whole year. Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported that the BSI attributed the increase in disruptions to cyberattacks. The BSI has denied this conclusion, according to the public broadcaster ARD.