Manufacturing – A Cybercrime Primary Target 

Global manufacturers are no longer incidental victims of cybercrime; they are its primary target. New research from Check Point Exposure Management reveals a sharp and accelerating escalation: in 2025, manufacturing became the single most attacked industry for ransomware on the planet, with 1,466 documented incidents, a 56% year-on-year increase that outpaces every other sector. 

The findings, drawn from the Manufacturing Threat Landscape 2025 report, paint a sobering picture of an industry caught between digital transformation and mounting systemic cyber risk, from legacy OT systems to sprawling third-party supply chains. 

  KEY FINDINGS: 

• Manufacturing ranked #1 globally for ransomware attacks with 1,466 incidents in 2025, up 56% year-on-year, more than any other sector. 

• In Europe, manufacturing accounted for 72% of all industrial ransomware attacks in Q3 2025, with average ransom demands more than doubling to $1.16 million. 

• The US bore the heaviest burden with 713 incidents, followed by India (201), Germany (79), the UK (65), and Canada (62), spanning both mature and emerging industrial economies. 

• Supply chain attacks nearly doubled, rising from 154 incidents in 2024 to 297 in 2025, as attackers exploited smaller vendors to indirectly breach larger targets. 

• Industrial access credentials now sell for up to $70,000 on dark web marketplaces, a clear signal of how valued manufacturing access has become to threat actors. 

  Cybercriminals are not targeting manufacturing by chance. They are doing it by design. Legacy OT systems, unpatched vulnerabilities, and deeply interconnected supplier ecosystems have created ideal conditions for high-impact, high-yield attacks. Threat actors increasingly view production downtime as leverage, not collateral damage: a single disrupted production line can cost millions per day and cascade across global supply chains. 

  Prominent ransomware groups, including Akira (linked to an estimated $244 million in proceeds), Qilin, and Play, drove a significant share of 2025 manufacturing attacks, alongside hacktivist and geopolitically aligned actors targeting industrial entities with denial-of-service and OT reconnaissance activities. 

read the report here : https://2034462.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/2034462/Manufacturing%20Threat%20Landscape%202025.pdf