European manufacturing data breaches up 90% – report

European manufacturers experienced almost 90% more data breaches over the last year, a new industry report has revealed.

According to Verizon Business’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), there were 1,607 data breaches among European manufacturers in the last 12 months, compared to 849 in the previous period — an increase of 89.3%.

Moreover, one in five (20%) breaches were due to Espionage-motivated actors and over 90% of breached organisations were SMBs with fewer than 1,000 employees, highlighting the crucial need for smaller companies to treat their cyber risk with utmost importance.

However, the top three patterns in the European manufacturing industry have not changed over the last year. At 60% of breaches, System Intrusion is still firmly on top and appears more than twice as often as Social Engineering, which holds the number two position at 22%. Basic Web Application Attacks is at number three but barely makes a showing (9%) when compared to the top two. In terms of the most commonly stolen data type, Internal (sensitive plans, reports, email) is, by far, the highest.

The 2025 DBIR exposes alarming cybersecurity shifts targeting key industries worldwide, including manufacturing. The sector has experienced a dramatic, nearly sixfold surge in espionage-motivated breaches, jumping to 20% from just 3% last year. Nevetheless, financial motives remain at number one, accounting for 87% of manufacturing data breaches.

This year’s findings serve as a critical warning for businesses globally—including those in EMEA—to take immediate, decisive action. Organisations must strengthen their cybersecurity defenses against these evolving threats to protect vital assets, maintain customer trust, and ensure sustainable success in today’s digital landscape.

“This year’s DBIR findings reflect a mixed bag of results. Glass-half-full types can celebrate the rise in the number of victim organisations that did not pay ransoms with 64% not paying vs 50% two years ago. The glass-half empty personas will see in the DBIR that organisations that don’t have the proper IT and cybersecurity maturity – often the SMB sized organisations, are paying the price for their size with ransomware being present in 88% of breaches,” said Craig Robinson, Research Vice President, Security Services at IDC. “While there is no magic pill to swallow that will alleviate the pain of cybersecurity attacks, Verizon’s leadership in educating the public on the types of attacker motives, tactics and techniques is a key head start in raising global awareness and cyber readiness”