Ransomware: The Most Profitable Cyber Threat of 2025

Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts or steals data and demands payment for recovery or non disclosure. Modern attacks often combine encryption, data exfiltration and long term extortion.
Key characteristics:

• Double and triple extortion
• Targeted intrusions, often weeks of preparation
• Economic motivation
• Significant operational disruption

Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) groups:

• Sell ransomware toolkits to affiliates
• Most active actors globally
• Examples: LockBit affiliates, BlackCat, Akira ecosystem

Cybercrime syndicates:

• Structured organizations
• Focus on large scale extortion and high ransom payments

Nation state aligned groups:

• Use ransomware as cover for espionage
• Target critical infrastructures and public institutions

Independent hackers:

• Use leaked ransomware kits
• Target SMEs for quick profits

• High profitability
• Scalable business model
• Anonymity through cryptocurrency
• Political goals (in state linked campaigns)
• Industrial espionage disguised as ransomware

Modern ransomware groups operate like startups: marketing, support desks, analytics and clear revenue models.

• Healthcare
• Financial institutions
• SaaS and cloud providers
• Manufacturing and logistics
• Education and public sector
• Professional services firms

Attackers choose victims based on:

• High dependency on uptime
• Valuable personal or financial data
• Weak security maturity
• Slow update cycles

SMEs face unique challenges:

• Fewer IT security resources
• Outdated infrastructure
• Inconsistent patching
• Lack of segmentation
• Limited monitoring capabilities

Consequences for SMEs include:

• Operational downtime
• Financial losses
• Reputational damage
• Regulatory penalties
• Long recovery periods

Note: For many small and medium-sized businesses, a single ransomware attack can be existentially threatening due to the high costs of forensics and recovery, as well as the disruption of business operations, even if no ransom is paid.

NIS2 introduces mandatory cybersecurity standards for a much wider set of organizations. Ransomware resilience becomes a compliance requirement.

Key NIS2 obligations relevant to ransomware:

• Risk management measures
• Incident reporting within 24 hours
• Mandatory backup and recovery plans
• Supply chain security
• Security awareness training
• Access control and multi factor authentication
• System monitoring and logging

Companies falling under NIS2 must demonstrate structured processes to detect, contain and report ransomware incidents.

Technical Measures

• Mandatory MFA:
  Introduce multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all critical areas (VPN, email, admin access) as a fundamental access control mechanism (direct NIS2 requirement).
• Network Segmentation:
  Divide the network into smaller, isolated zones following the zero-trust principle to prevent attackers from moving laterally.
• Immutable Backups:
  Ensure backups are logically separated from the main network and cannot be altered, preventing attackers from encrypting them (crucial for NIS2 incident-response and recovery concepts).
• EDR/NDR:
  Use modern endpoint and network detection solutions (EDR/NDR) for proactive monitoring and rapid detection of initial access and data exfiltration.

Organisational Measures

• Incident Response Plans:
  Create clear incident response plans and test them regularly, defining who must take which actions during an attack (core NIS2 requirement).
• Awareness Training:
  Provide regular, interactive training sessions to educate employees about phishing, social engineering, and recognizing suspicious activity.
• Supply Chain Security:
  Assess the security risks of third-party providers and critical suppliers (e.g., SaaS vendors, managed service providers).
  (NIS2 requirement for supply chain oversight)
• Patch Management:
  Establish a consistent, documented process to quickly address known vulnerabilities (e.g., VPN appliances, mail servers).

Best practices

• Restrict administrative privileges
• Monitor high value assets
• Test restores regularly
• Deploy email threat protection

Ransomware isn’t only a cybersecurity challenge. It has a direct legal impact.

Relevant frameworks:

• GDPR: breach notification within 72 hours
• NIS2: strict reporting timelines and risk management duties
• Product liability: vendor accountability for insecure systems
• Employment law: responsibilities for handling attacks

Paying ransoms is legally and ethically problematic. It may violate sanctions rules and encourage further crime.

Ransomware is one of the greatest cyber risks of our time. With professional attacker groups, perfected extortion tactics such as double extortion, and the spread of ransomware-as-a-service, even a small vulnerability can have enormous consequences.

Small and medium-sized businesses are particularly at risk, while NIS2 sets clear and mandatory requirements for risk management, incident response, and the documentation of protective measures.

To effectively combat ransomware, you need strong security measures, immutable backups, trained employees, and a well-thought-out compliance setup that meets strict reporting and documentation requirements.

If you want to meet these requirements without complex tools and external consultants, we can help you with a solution that combines cybersecurity, data protection, and NIS2 compliance in a single, easy-to-use system, so your company is not only protected, but can also prove what it protects at any time.

Should companies ever pay a ransom?

Security authorities advise against it. Payment offers no guarantee of recovery and may violate legal restrictions.

How long does recovery take? 

Depending on the attack, from days to several months. SMEs with weak backups often face prolonged downtime.

Is ransomware becoming more targeted?

Yes. Attackers now conduct reconnaissance to identify victims with high willingness to pay.

Does NIS2 apply even if my company is small?

SME size does not automatically exclude you. Many sectors fall under NIS2 based on service type, not company size.