The Fight Against Ransomware Heats Up on the Factory Floor

Ransomware gangs continue to target manufacturing, with the sector repeatedly identified as a top vulnerability as the landscape evolves, including a rise in data-extortion tactics alongside encryption. The manufacturing sector accounted for 22% of all reported attacks between April 2024 and March 2025, with 1,314 incidents out of 6,046 in Black Kite’s 2025 Manufacturing Research Report, according to Black Kite.

The trend is echoed by Dragos, which in its Industrial Ransomware Analysis: Q2 2025 warned that manufacturing accounted for 65% of incidents, while BitSight’s State of the Underground 2025 found manufacturing was the most targeted for the third year in a row. Security gaps contribute to the attractiveness of manufacturing, with 75% of manufacturers having critical vulnerabilities and 65% having at least one Known Exploited Vulnerability actively exploited today, according to Celik of Black Kite.

Experts emphasise patch management, network visibility, strong segmentation, and zero-trust controls as essential steps to curb the ongoing threat in a sector described as critical to global supply chains.