In the first quarter of 2025, cyberattacks surged worldwide, with businesses facing both a higher volume and greater sophistication of threats. Organizations experienced an average of 1,925 attacks per week, representing a 47% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The education sector was the most targeted industry for cyberattacks over the past year. Schools faced an average of 4,484 attacks per week — 40% more than the next most-targeted sector.
Government followed with 2,678 attacks per week, closely trailed by telecommunications at 2,664. Healthcare and medical organizations faced 2,430 weekly attacks, while the automotive sector experienced 2,145. Finance and manufacturing ranked 11th and 17th, respectively, with the former suffering 1,747 weekly attacks and industrial manufacturing 1,554, on average.
These were some of the findings of Check Point Software’s Q1 2025 Cyber Threat Intelligence Report, which said cyberattacks around the global were up sharply in 2025’s first quarter, with an increase in both numbers and sophistication.
Highest-Targeted Regions
Check Point’s research showed that organizations in Africa were the most impacted of any other region around the world, experiencing a 39% uptick in cyber incidents since last year. This landed them at an average of 3,286 cybersecurity attacks to deal with every week.
However, attacks in APAC were not far behind, trailing those in Africa by a mere percentage point and coming in at a 38% rise. And while attacks in Latin America didn’t rank #1 overall in terms of volume, they resulted in the highest overall rise of any region: this past year, Latin America was the target of a staggering 108% more attacks than they were the year before. Next in line is Europe, who saw a 57% boost, and North America with a 40% one.
Ransomware Numbers Up by 126%
In Q1 2025, ransomware attacks surged by 126% compared to the same period in 2024. North America was the hardest-hit region, accounting for 62% of global ransomware incidents, followed by Europe at 21%. APAC followed with 10%, Latin America with 6%, and Africa last with only 1%.
The Consumer Goods & Services sector was the most targeted, representing 13.2% of reported cases, while Business Services and Industrial Manufacturing followed with 9.8% and 9.1%, respectively. Healthcare came next with 7.2%, and construction and engineering with 6.5%.
The rise in attacks reflects the growing impact of double-extortion tactics and the expanding reach of ransomware groups across industries and regions.
Methodology
The data in this report is based on insights from Check Point’s ThreatCloud AI platform, which processes vast amounts of big data telemetry and millions of Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) every day.
The threat intelligence is collected from 150,000 connected networks, millions of endpoint devices, Check Point Research (CP), and multiple external sources. More than 50 AI-driven engines generate weekly reports detailing the attacks that Check Point solutions have blocked, along with protection trends by country and industry sector.
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