Ransomware is no longer a distant threat for retail businesses—it is here, it is real, and it is steadily reshaping how organizations must defend themselves in 2026.
According to the latest 2025 Security Bulletin from Kaspersky, 8.25% of retail and e-commerce companies worldwide experienced a ransomware attack between November 2024 and October 2025. That statistic alone sounds the alarm for business leaders across the sector, but it also reveals deeper implications about evolving attacker tactics and defense strategy requirements as we head into the new year.
Retailers are a prime target for ransomware groups for several reasons. These organizations typically handle rich troves of customer payment data, loyalty accounts, personally identifiable information, and operational systems—all of which have high value on both criminal and underground markets. Threat actors are also increasingly adept at exploiting phishing, credential theft, and third-party vendor vulnerabilities to gain a foothold into retail networks.
Kaspersky’s data highlights that alongside ransomware incidents, B2B ransomware detections in retail surged 152% in 2025 compared to 2023, while phishing attacks reached into the millions, targeting online stores, payment systems, and delivery services. What this underscores is that ransomware is not an isolated “malware attack” anymore—it is part of a broad campaign that begins with social engineering, leverages human error, and quickly escalates into operational paralysis or data extortion.
The implications of these 2025 trends are profound as businesses prepare for 2026. A near-double increase in ransomware detections shows that attackers continue to adapt and innovate faster than many defenses. Ransomware’s cost is no longer just encrypted files—it now includes data theft, extortion, supply chain impact, and brand trust damage.
This shift in the nature of ransomware infections means that traditional cybersecurity postures built around detect and respond are inadequate. If an attack is only identified after detection, organizations still suffer the most damaging parts of a breach. Waiting for alerts or reactions is reactive at best and expensive at worst.
The prevailing cybersecurity model for many organizations still focuses on identifying threats once they occur—often using endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools or managed detection services. But as Kaspersky’s findings show, retailers who face ransomware often encounter sophisticated attacks that slip past visibility gaps and exploit unknown vulnerabilities before a response can even begin.
Simply detecting a threat does not isolate it or prevent its spread through critical systems such as point-of-sale, inventory databases, employee systems, or customer data. Detection can tell you you have a problem—but it often does not stop the attacker from moving laterally, encrypting files, or extracting sensitive information.
This is where approaches like Isolation and Containment come in. Rather than just spotting malicious activity, modern endpoint protection solutions should border off risky behaviors, prevent execution of unknown code, and cut off lateral movement instantly. The goal is to treat malware or ransomware as contained adversaries the moment they appear, effectively cutting off their ability to cause damage or exfiltrate data.
This containment-centric approach is precisely what AppGuard delivers. With a proven, behavior-blocking architecture refined over more than 10 years, AppGuard does not rely on signatures or threat intelligence that attackers can evade. Instead, it isolates risky actions at the endpoint level, stopping threats before they become operational incidents. This provides businesses a far stronger defensive posture than simply detecting threats and then scrambling to respond.
AppGuard’s track record is rooted in real-world success against complex malware and ransomware campaigns. Its core strategy aligns with the needs of modern retail cybersecurity: prevent execution, isolate threats, and contain risk across all endpoints—desktops, servers, and remote worker devices alike. This is particularly important for retail businesses with distributed locations, numerous IoT and POS devices, and high-traffic e-commerce environments.
In a landscape where nearly 1 in 12 retail firms faced ransomware in 2025, and where more advanced threats loom on the horizon, the strategy of detect and respond is no longer enough. Businesses need tools that protect before compromise, contain during an incident, and prevent escalation into widespread disruption.
As we move into 2026, ransomware will undoubtedly continue to evolve. Markets, technologies, and attacker tactics change, but the core requirement for robust protection remains the same: don’t just find threats—stop them cold where they appear.
Business owners cannot afford to wait until ransomware strikes their systems to take action. The cost in downtime, operational disruption, customer trust, and recovery far outweighs the investment in proactive endpoint protection.
If you want to protect your business against the next ransomware wave, it is time to move beyond Detect and Respond, and embrace Isolation and Containment.
Are you ready to protect your retail business with a modern, proven endpoint protection solution? Talk with us at CHIPS about how AppGuard can prevent this type of ransomware incident and provide the defence your organization needs. Schedule a consultation today and take the first step toward true prevention and containment.
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