Recent industry reporting and threat intelligence confirm a sharp rise in ransomware activity, with healthcare and manufacturing emerging as two of the most heavily targeted sectors. Attack volumes in 2025 closed at record highs, and early 2026 data shows no signs of slowdown.

What's different now is not just volume-it's precision.

What's Driving the New Wave

1. Sector-Specific Targeting

Threat actors are increasingly focusing on industries where downtime equals life, safety, or massive financial loss.

Healthcare organizations face:

  • Patient safety risks
  • Regulatory exposure (HIPAA, privacy laws)
  • High likelihood of ransom payment due to operational urgency

Manufacturing environments face:

  • Production shutdowns
  • OT/ICS system disruption
  • Supply chain ripple effects

This makes both sectors prime targets for ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operators seeking faster monetization.

2. Proliferation of Ransomware Groups

Threat intelligence reports show more than 100 active ransomware groups operating globally, with fragmentation replacing dominance by a few large actors.

This means:

  • More attack campaigns
  • Faster rebranding after takedowns
  • Increased use of affiliates
  • Lower barrier to entry for cybercriminals

The result: higher attack frequency and less predictable attacker behavior.

3. Triple Extortion Is Becoming the Norm

Modern ransomware campaigns now commonly include:

  • Data encryption
  • Data exfiltration and leak threats
  • DDoS or business disruption pressure

This shifts ransomware from an IT issue to a full-scale enterprise risk — impacting legal, regulatory, reputational, and operational domains simultaneously.

4. AI Is Accelerating the Kill Chain

AI-enabled phishing and social engineering are making initial access easier and more scalable. Attackers are using AI to:

  • Personalize phishing lures
  • Automate reconnaissance
  • Improve malware evasion
  • Speed up lateral movement

The time from compromise to ransomware deployment continues to shrink.

Why This Matters for Leadership Teams

Ransomware is no longer just a technical problem.

It is a:

  • Board-level risk
  • Regulatory exposure
  • Business continuity threat
  • Brand trust issue

Organizations that treat ransomware readiness as a compliance checkbox -rather than a resilience strategy-are increasingly vulnerable.

What Organizations Should Prioritize Now

Security leaders should focus on:

Identity and privileged access hardening Backup and recovery validation (not just existence) OT/ICS segmentation for manufacturing Continuous threat detection and response Incident response tabletop exercises Vendor and third-party risk visibility Executive-level ransomware readiness planning

The Bigger Picture

Ransomware is evolving from isolated criminal activity into an organized, scalable business ecosystem.

In 2026, the organizations that fare best will not be the ones with the most tools-but the ones with the most mature detection, response, and governance capabilities.

Resilience is now a competitive advantage.

About COE Security

COE Security helps organizations reduce SaaS, identity, cloud, and infrastructure risk through:

  • Threat detection & response
  • Cloud and network security
  • Identity and access risk reduction
  • Secure development practices
  • Compliance and GRC advisory
  • Security assessments and resilience programs

Follow COE Security for real-world threat intelligence and executive-level cybersecurity insights.