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   Europes fall from cyber safety grace: why it is now among the worlds riskiest   
   cyber regions   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:11:29 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Europe is now a central cybersecurity battleground where resilience must come   
   first.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
   Europe has transitioned from being considered a relatively low risk cyber   
   region to one of the worlds 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, Europes 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 regions 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 Commissions 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.    
      
   Europes 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.    
      
    This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel   
   where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry   
   today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not   
   necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in   
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   https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/europes-fall-from-cyber-safety-grace-why-it-is-n   
   ow-among-the-worlds-riskiest-cyber-regions   
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