Manufacturing organizations made up over a fifth (22%) of all ransomware victims in the period from April 2025 to March 2026, according to new Black Kite study.
This made the industry the most targeted by ransomware attacks for the fifth consecutive year, the analysis found.
The volume of ransomware incidents in the manufacturing sector also surged by around 40% year-over-year in the period from January 1 to July 29, 2026 – from 847 to 1183.
This growth continued a trend observed by the researchers of disclosed ransomware incidents in manufacturing rising every year since 2022.
Manufacturing is viewed as a high-value target for ransomware actors for a number of reasons. One factor is that a successful attack can result in significant downtime for victim organizations, which in turn leads to substantial financial losses, potentially making them more likely to agree to pay an extortion demand to resume operations.
The financial impact of such incidents was highlighted in the attack on UK car manufacturing giant Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in 2025, which is estimated to have cost the UK economy £1.9bn ($2.5bn).
Another factor is growing IT-OT convergence in the sector, making it easier for threat actors to compromise industrial systems.
by Infosecurity Magazine – Manufacturing Accounts for 22% of all Ransomware Victims
