Dangerous Top-5: Ukraine Suffers from Cyberattacks — Microsoft Report

According to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025, Ukraine ranks fifth in the world and third in Europe among the countries most affected by cyberattacks. The report analyses the cybersecurity situation for the first half of 2025.

 

Although threats to users exist globally, the highest number of cyberattacks in the past six months were recorded in the following countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Germany, with Ukraine being the next in the ranking.

 

Ukraine accounted for nearly 10% of the total number of affected individuals in Europe due to cyber activities. Despite this, the country is actively developing and becoming a leader in the field of cybersecurity.

 

Renate Strazdina, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft in the Northern Europe cluster, emphasised that Ukraine’s digital resilience is inspiring countries worldwide. Key factors contributing to this resilience include:

• The accelerated adoption of cloud technologies;
• The use of artificial intelligence to protect critical infrastructure;
• Active promotion of innovation.

 

According to Renate Strazdina, Ukraine has become an example for other countries in the Northern Europe cluster in terms of digital transformation and cyber defence.

 

While most attacks are carried out by cybercriminals, state actors continue to be active, mainly for espionage purposes. The report highlights Russia, which is expanding its attack geography beyond Ukraine. A new tactic involves targeting small businesses in NATO countries, which are used as “entry points” for further penetration into larger organisations.

 

The Main Motive Globally – Money, Not Espionage

 

The report identifies a clear trend: modern attacks are primarily financially motivated.

• Ransomware Dominance: More than half (52%) of cyberattacks were driven by ransom demands and ransomware programs.
• Low Spycraft Percentage: Traditional cyber-espionage accounts for only 4% of incidents.

 

The effectiveness of attackers is increasing thanks to new tools. Automation allows them to easily scale their operations. Additionally, artificial intelligence (AI) is actively used to accelerate the creation of more sophisticated and convincing content for attacks, including phishing campaigns.

 

Organisations that store large amounts of sensitive data but have limited resources for cybersecurity are at the highest risk. Hospitals, schools, and government agencies are increasingly becoming targets. Cybercriminals exploit these vulnerabilities, as such organisations often agree to quickly pay the ransom to restore their operations.

 

For preparing the report, Microsoft analyses over 100 trillion security signals daily and checks up to 5 billion emails for phishing threats.