Europe’s fall from cyber safety grace: why it is now among the world’s riskiest cyber regions

Europe has transitioned from being considered a relatively low risk cyber region to one of the world’s most targeted environments. The shift has been swift and severe.

Once shielded by a perception of safety, the continent now finds itself at the heart of global cyber conflict. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has spilt far beyond the battlefield, reshaping cyberattack patterns and leaving European infrastructure and institutions exposed.

In 2025, Poland now faces around 300 Russian cyberattack attempts daily, a threefold increase compared to the previous year.

In Norway, intelligence officials confirmed that Russian hackers recently seized control of a dam in Bremanger, releasing torrents of water before authorities intervened.

NATO has simultaneously warned of a rise in state-linked cyberattacks against European and Mediterranean port facilities, a sign that transport and energy infrastructure are being drawn deeper into the firing line.

As regional governments warn of increasing aggression, Europe faces a new reality: the continent is no longer a peripheral target but a central battleground where resilience must come first.

Hacktivists and state-sponsored groups

Hacktivist collectives are a prominent driver of this shift. Since 2022, one pro-Russian group has claimed more than 6,600 attacks, with 96 percent aimed at European targets ranging from government portals to airports and energy providers.

As recently as May, pro-Russian actors targeted multiple local councils in the UK, disrupting access to public services.

Alongside these activities, state sponsored groups have escalated campaigns of espionage and sabotage. Security agencies across the West confirm that Russian and allied intelligence units have “substantially dialed up” operations against NATO members since the Ukraine invasion.

The result has been a surge in high profile breaches, ransomware incidents, and ideologically motivated attacks that have made clear the absence of limits. European companies, hospitals, and public services are increasingly treated as fair game.

Europe becomes a cyber hotbed

The convergence of state and criminal threats created a uniquely volatile landscape in 2024 and 2025. According to the OpenText Cybersecurity 2025 Threat Report, Europe’s malware infection rate is now three to four times higher than that of the United States.

Once considered among the safer regions, Europe has joined South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in the “more risky” category. Together, these regions face six times the infection levels recorded in less risky areas.

The same report also revealed that, across the globe, small and medium sized businesses reported more ransomware incidents than larger enterprises.

Europe is no exception: with higher infection rates, the region’s SMBs face heightened exposure as both softer entry points into broader supply chains and as victims in their own right.

Ransomware and extortion tactics

The Warlock ransomware attack on Colt Technology Services illustrates the changing nature of extortion in Europe.

By compromising cryptographic keys and leaking gigabytes of data, the group bypassed traditional “lock and encrypt” methods in favor of public exposure. This mirrors the broader shift toward exfiltration-based attacks, with threat actors stealing sensitive data to use as leverage.

Our research found that nearly half of all ransomware victims paid the ransom last year, despite a 97 percent success rate in data recovery.

This contradiction reflects the changing nature of extortion, and for European organizations, this trend underscores the growing pressure that reputational harm and regulatory penalties place on decision makers.

The regulatory push

The European Union has recognized the urgency of these threats and is reinforcing resilience through regulation.

The NIS2 Directive, which extends cyber requirements across 18 critical sectors, is forcing organizations to rethink risk management and incident reporting.

Implementation remains uneven, particularly in healthcare and transport, but the framework is already raising baseline expectations.

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which came into force in January 2025, is another significant milestone.

It introduces strict ICT risk management and resilience testing for the financial sector and its third-party providers.

For healthcare, the European Commission’s new action plan promises an EU-wide cybersecurity support center and coordinated early warning systems by 2026.

These initiatives demonstrate that resilience is no longer optional. It is now a regulatory and strategic necessity.

Moving from attempted prevention to focused resilience

Attackers continue to innovate and adapt, leaving European organizations with no choice but to embed resilience into their security frameworks.

Preventive measures remain essential, but the inevitability of human error, zero-day vulnerabilities, and advanced social engineering means no system can block every threat.

The priority must shift toward resilience. Organizations should prepare for breaches, not just attempt to stop them.

This requires rapid recovery capabilities that enable security teams to detect infections early, isolate them, and restore critical operations without crippling disruption.

The practice of running tabletop simulations across all departments is one of the most effective ways to identify gaps and build confidence in recovery plans.

Europe’s cyber landscape has changed fundamentally. No longer a lower risk environment, it has become one of the most contested regions in the world.

Hacktivists, state sponsored actors, and ransomware groups are converging on its infrastructure and institutions with unprecedented intensity. Our findings underline the scale of this challenge.

The path forward is not to expect perfect protection but to embrace resilience as the cornerstone of defense. With the right strategies, leadership, and regulatory frameworks, Europe can move from being a target of opportunity to a model of cyber resilience.

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