In 2025, ransomware attacks on the transport and logistics industry did not just rise—they more than doubled compared to the combined incidents of 2023 and 2024, according to a new Cyble analysis highlighted in Express Computer.
A sector once thought to be traditionally operational rather than digital is now in the crosshairs of sophisticated cybercriminals. Air carriers, freight operators, rail services, and shipping companies saw 283 confirmed ransomware incidents throughout the year. Attackers targeted the industry’s critical infrastructure and sprawling supply chains, exploiting systems where even brief downtime can translate into massive economic disruption.
The New Reality for Transport and Logistics
Cyble’s Transport & Logistics Threat Landscape Report 2025 underscores the dramatic shift in the threat landscape: attackers are no longer probing the edges of industrial networks. They are penetrating deep into the systems that manage global commerce.
Here are the headline takeaways:
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Sustained Ransomware Activity: Ransomware was not an intermittent threat but a persistent danger throughout the year. The ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model fueled most attacks, with just four groups—CL0P, Qilin, Akira, and Play—accounting for 57 percent of all incidents.
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Land Transport as the Primary Target: Nearly three out of every four incidents hit land-based transport systems, including freight and logistics services. But the impact was broad, spanning airlines, shipping firms, public transit authorities, and rail operators.
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Critical Data Exposed: Beyond ransomware encryption, attackers siphoned massive troves of sensitive data. One breach exposed approximately six million customer records from an airline, while another allegedly involved more than seven million logistics platform user records being sold on underground forums.
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Underground Markets and Initial Access Sales: Threat actors were observed selling initial access—VPN credentials, firewall access, and internal system entry—on underground markets. These access points often served as stepping stones for ransomware deployment or espionage.
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Zero-Day and High-Severity Exploits: A significant driver of these attacks was the exploitation of zero-day and other high-severity vulnerabilities, especially in widely deployed enterprise and perimeter devices.
Why Your Business Is at Risk
These findings show that cyber threats are no longer confined to traditional IT systems. Attackers know exactly where they can inflict maximum damage. In sectors like transport and logistics, where operational technology (OT) is tightly integrated with business processes, a successful ransomware event can halt operations in a matter of hours, not days.
If ransomware can inflict this level of disruption on highly resilient global supply chains, imagine what it could do to smaller enterprises with limited cybersecurity capabilities.
The Limits of Detect and Respond
Most legacy cybersecurity approaches emphasize “Detect and Respond.” These systems rely on identifying threats after they infiltrate environments and then reacting to contain damage. But ransomware attacks today move faster than detection can keep up. Once attackers bypass the perimeter and gain access, encryption, data theft, and operational impact can occur before alerts are ever raised.
In a landscape driven by zero-day exploits, automated exploit tools, and RaaS infrastructures, waiting to respond after the fact is not a strategy—it is a vulnerability.
A Better Approach: Isolation and Containment
This shift in threat dynamics demands a fundamental change in how we protect endpoints and networks. Instead of chasing threats after they have penetrated defenses, businesses now need to isolate and contain threats before they can execute.
AppGuard provides exactly that.
With a proven 10-year track record of preventing advanced threats at the endpoint, AppGuard does not rely on detection signatures or threat databases. Instead, it constrains potentially malicious behavior in real time, isolating it before lateral movement, data encryption, or exfiltration can occur. It is a proactive, preventative approach that stops threats at the point of execution.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Ransomware and data breach activity show no signs of slowing down. If transport and logistics organizations—some of the most mission-critical networks in the world—can be overwhelmed, any business is at risk.
Business owners need to rethink cybersecurity protection now. Moving from a reactive Detect and Respond mindset to proactive Isolation and Containment is no longer optional. It is essential.
Contact us at CHIPS to learn how AppGuard can protect your organization from the next wave of ransomware attacks. Talk with our experts about moving beyond Detect and Respond to real Isolation and Containment protection that stops threats before they disrupt your business.
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