Executive Summary

According to the newly released CrowdStrike 2025 European Threat Landscape Report, Europe has become the second-largest target for ransomware and extortion attacks globally, trailing only North America. European organizations comprised 22% of all victims named on extortion leak sites since January 2024, totaling over 2,100 entities. The report reveals a dangerous acceleration in attack velocity, with some adversary groups now achieving breakout time and deploying ransomware in under 24 hours. This surge is driven by a combination of a commoditized underground economy, particularly initial access brokers (IABs), and heightened geopolitical tensions involving state-sponsored actors from Russia, China, and North Korea (DPRK).

Threat Overview

The report, based on intelligence from CrowdStrike's Counter Adversary Operations team, paints a grim picture of the threat landscape in Europe. The top five most targeted nations are the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

Key Findings:

• Accelerated Attack Speed: Threat actors are moving faster than ever. Groups like SCATTERED SPIDER have been observed increasing their ransomware deployment speed by 48%, with the average attack from initial access to ransomware deployment now taking just 24 hours.
• Double Extortion is Standard: In 92% of observed incidents, attackers engaged in double extortion, involving both data encryption (T1486 - Data Encrypted for Impact) and data theft for public leaking (T1567 - Exfiltration Over Web Service).
• Thriving IAB Market: The ransomware ecosystem is fueled by a robust market for initial access. The report notes that 260 IABs have advertised access to over 1,400 European organizations, lowering the barrier to entry for ransomware groups.

Geopolitical Drivers

Geopolitical conflicts are a major catalyst for cyberattacks in the region:

• Russia-Nexus Actors: Continue to heavily target Ukraine and its allies, focusing on government, energy, and telecom sectors for intelligence gathering and destructive operations.
• North Korea (DPRK)-Nexus Actors: Have expanded their targeting of European defense, diplomatic, and financial institutions, blending traditional espionage with cryptocurrency theft to generate revenue.
• China-Nexus Actors: Have been observed targeting industries across 11 European countries, often exploiting cloud infrastructure and software supply chains to steal intellectual property.

Impact Assessment

The convergence of fast-moving criminal enterprises and politically motivated state actors creates a highly volatile and dangerous environment for European organizations. The reduction in attack timelines from days to hours means that defenders have a significantly smaller window to detect and respond to an intrusion before catastrophic damage occurs. The widespread availability of initial access means that organizations of all sizes and sectors are at risk of being targeted in these 'Big Game Hunting' operations. The focus on critical sectors like energy, defense, and government poses a direct threat to national security and public safety across the continent.

Detection & Response

• 24/7 Monitoring: The accelerated attack speed necessitates round-the-clock security monitoring (SOC) to enable detection and response within minutes, not hours or days.
• Focus on Breakout Time: Defenders must measure and work to reduce their own 'time to detect' and 'time to respond' to be faster than the adversary's 'breakout time' (the time from initial access to lateral movement).
• Threat Intelligence Integration: Leverage up-to-date threat intelligence on IABs, ransomware groups, and state-sponsored TTPs to inform proactive threat hunting. This is an application of D3-KTIA: Knowledge of Threat-Actor Infrastructure.

Mitigation Recommendations

1. Identity Security: Given the speed of attacks, protecting identities is paramount. Implement phishing-resistant MFA, enforce strong password policies, and closely monitor privileged accounts to prevent rapid lateral movement. This corresponds to M1032 - Multi-factor Authentication.
2. Vulnerability Management: Aggressively patch public-facing vulnerabilities, as these are the primary entry points sold by IABs. Prioritize patches for vulnerabilities known to be exploited by ransomware groups. See M1051 - Update Software.
3. Network Segmentation: Implement network segmentation to contain intrusions and prevent attackers from quickly moving from an initial entry point to critical assets. This is a key part of M1030 - Network Segmentation.
4. User Training: Continuous security awareness training is crucial to defend against the phishing and social engineering tactics that often lead to initial access. See M1017 - User Training.