The attacks included unauthorized or malicious access attempts, with 8.5 million of them posing a high security threat, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
In an attempt to counter the cyberthreat, Germany's Defense Ministry defined cyberspace, in 2015, as a battleground alongside land, sea and air. A new digital warfare unit is set to be created this year, with the Defense Ministry planning to hire some 1,500 IT personnel and spend up to 3.6 million euros ($4 million), according to the publication.
The German government has been stepping up its cyberdefense and surveillance capabilities. In 2015, Germany's parliament adopted legislation listing some 2,000 German organizations as critical infrastructure, which are required to ensure minimum information security standards and to notify the Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) of any cyberattacks they encounter.