Gartner: Ransomware Attacks on Manufacturing are Now Targeted, and the Stakes have Doubled

Manufacturing was the most ransomware-attacked industry globally entering 2026. That distinction is not new. What has changed is how attackers operate: they are no longer spraying networks with opportunistic encryption payloads and hoping someone pays. They are selecting manufacturing targets with precision, exfiltrating proprietary IP before they encrypt anything, and using the threat of public data leaks as a second pressure point even when companies can restore from backups.

The February 2026 Gartner® report, 2026 Top Trends for Manufacturing CIOs: Challenges, places ransomware threats alongside technical debt and geopolitical disruption as one of three headwinds that will define the manufacturing sector over the next three years. The report documents a year-over-year attack surge of 56% to 61% between 2024 and 2025, with average ransom demands in manufacturing jumping from approximately $500,000 to over $1.1 million.

For PMO leaders, transformation executives, and operations heads, ransomware is no longer just a cybersecurity concern. It is an operational risk that can halt production for weeks, destroy project timelines, and wipe out margins for an entire quarter.

Key takeaways for manufacturing leaders

1. The attack model has shifted from encryption to extortion. Attackers now steal sensitive intellectual property, including proprietary formulas, chip designs, and CAD blueprints, before encrypting systems. Even companies that restore operations from backups face the threat of having their most valuable data sold to competitors or state-sponsored entities.

2. Average recovery costs now exceed $2.5 million per incident. Vendor Sophos data cited in the Gartner® report shows the average recovery cost (excluding ransom) is $1.53 million. When combined with average paid ransoms of roughly $1 million, a single event becomes a multimillion-dollar hit that cascades across the project portfolio.

3. Attackers are exploiting the IT-OT boundary. Modern factory floors are increasingly connected through IoT sensors, SCADA systems, and industrial control systems. These systems were never designed with cybersecurity in mind, and they are creating new attack surfaces that bypass traditional IT security perimeters.

4. Supply chain dependencies create a "many-to-one" attack surface. The Gartner® report notes that most manufacturing subsectors experienced software supply chain attacks in 2025, with threat groups weaponizing the trust relationships between vendors and factories to move laterally into production systems.

5. Regulatory consequences are intensifying. The SEC's four-day disclosure rule in the U.S. and the NIS2 Directive in the EU mean manufacturers face heavy fines for failing to secure critical supply chains or report breaches promptly. Cyber insurance premiums are projected to rise 15% to 20% in 2026, with manufacturing accounting for the highest volume of claims at 33%.

Why manufacturing is the top ransomware target

The manufacturing sector's attractiveness to ransomware operators comes down to three structural characteristics that are unlikely to change.

Low tolerance for downtime, high motivation to pay

Manufacturers operate on thin margins and just-in-time delivery schedules. Every minute of unplanned downtime costs thousands of dollars. Attackers know this. A three-week production shutdown for a JIT manufacturer can lead to contract cancellations and permanent loss of customers, according to the Gartner® report. That economic pressure makes manufacturers more likely to pay extortion fees quickly rather than absorb weeks of lost production.

This is different from attacking a professional services firm or even a financial institution. Those organizations can often continue partial operations while recovering. A factory that cannot run its production line generates zero output and still carries full fixed costs.

Expanding attack surfaces from digital transformation

As factories implement Industry 4.0 programs, they are connecting decades-old machinery to each other, to enterprise IT systems, and to the internet. The Gartner® report identifies a specific vulnerability pattern: these connected systems often remain unpatched, unsegmented, and undermonitored, allowing attackers to pivot from IT networks to physical production controls.

The digital thread that connects manufacturing processes creates enormous operational value. But it also creates a continuous pathway that attackers can traverse from a compromised email account to a programmable logic controller (PLC) on the factory floor. Without proper network segmentation, a single phishing email can cascade into a production-stopping event.

Supplier dependencies as entry points

Modern manufacturing relies on complex vendor ecosystems. Every supplier with network access to a manufacturer's systems is a potential entry point. The Gartner® report notes that groups like Qilin weaponized trust relationships between vendors and factories during 2025, launching supply chain attacks that compromised manufacturers through their legitimate vendor connections.

For organizations managing supply chain risk at the project level, this adds a cybersecurity dimension to an already complex problem. It is no longer enough to track supplier delivery performance. PMO leaders need to understand the cybersecurity posture of every vendor with digital access to their systems.

The full cost of a manufacturing ransomware attack

The ransom itself is often a fraction of the total financial impact. The Gartner® report outlines several cost layers that accumulate after an attack.

Direct costs

• Ransom payment: Average ransom demands in manufacturing have doubled to over $1.1 million.

• Recovery costs: Sophos data puts the average at $1.53 million, covering incident response, forensic investigation, system restoration, and legal counsel.

• Cyber insurance deductibles and premium increases: Manufacturing accounts for 33% of all cyber insurance claims, and premiums are projected to rise 15-20% in 2026.

Operational costs

• Production downtime: Manufacturing environments require safety validation before restarting operations. Return to production cannot happen overnight. Downtime is often measured in weeks, not days.

• Project delays: When production halts, every active manufacturing project in the portfolio is affected. NPI timelines slip, capital projects stall, and resource schedules cascade across the entire portfolio.

• Customer impact: For JIT manufacturers, even a short production halt can trigger contract penalties, expediting costs, and customer defection.

Strategic costs

• IP theft and competitive damage: Extortion-only attacks that steal proprietary designs without encrypting systems can destroy a company's long-term competitive position. If a competitor gains access to your CAD blueprints or manufacturing processes, the damage is permanent.

• Regulatory penalties: The SEC's four-day disclosure rule and the EU's NIS2 Directive create legal exposure that adds to the financial burden. Companies that fail to report breaches promptly face fines on top of recovery costs.

• Reputational damage: The Gartner® report cites the Jaguar Land Rover attack as an example where the impact extended well beyond the victim, affecting the U.K.'s GDP. When a major manufacturer is hit, customers, partners, and investors reassess the relationship.

What the Gartner® report recommends

The Gartner® report lays out a set of specific, practical actions for manufacturing leaders. These are not abstract principles. They are operational changes that can be implemented within existing governance structures.

Prioritize OT asset discovery and patching

Most manufacturers do not have a complete inventory of their operational technology assets. You cannot protect what you do not know you have. The report recommends deploying CPS protection platforms that can inventory assets and patch vulnerabilities without disrupting operations.

This is particularly relevant for organizations managing operational risk at the portfolio level. Adding OT asset visibility to the portfolio risk register transforms cybersecurity from an IT-only concern into a business-level priority that gets executive attention.

Implement strict network segmentation

The report calls for establishing a DMZ between corporate IT and plant floor networks. Industrial-grade firewalls should strictly limit traffic between zones. Cyber-physical systems should never have direct, unfettered internet access.

This recommendation reflects a basic architectural principle that many manufacturers have deferred: isolating production systems from enterprise systems so that a breach in one zone cannot cascade into the other. The challenges facing manufacturing projects today already include cybersecurity as a standing concern. Network segmentation is the most effective single action to contain blast radius.

Deploy immutable backups for production-critical data

Traditional backup strategies are not sufficient when attackers specifically target backup systems. The report recommends write-once-read-many (WORM) format backups that cannot be encrypted or deleted by attackers. Testing recovery procedures against physical production systems, not just email servers, is critical.

Secure remote access for third-party vendors

Vendor access to PLCs, SCADA systems, and other production controls needs dedicated secure remote access solutions. The report recommends auditing vendor access regularly and removing dormant accounts immediately. Every unused vendor account is a potential entry point.

Run incident response drills that include plant managers

IT-only incident response drills miss the reality of manufacturing cyber events. When a ransomware attack hits a production line, the plant manager needs to know how to manually operate or safely shut down machinery. Engineers need to understand recovery sequencing. The Gartner® report recommends including plant managers and engineers in incident response drills, not just IT staff.

Isolate supplier network connections

A breach in a supplier's network should not be able to move laterally into a manufacturer's production systems. The report recommends isolating supplier connections so that compromised vendor networks are contained before they reach critical systems.

What this means for PMO leaders

Ransomware risk is a project portfolio concern. A single attack can simultaneously affect every active project, disrupt resource schedules across the portfolio, and create compliance failures that require immediate executive attention.

PMO leaders should be asking three questions:

1. Is cybersecurity risk included in our portfolio risk register? If project risk management only tracks schedule and budget risks, the single largest source of unplanned disruption is invisible to leadership. Structured risk management practices should include cyber risk as a standard category.

2. Do we have visibility into how a production shutdown would cascade across our project portfolio? When a ransomware attack halts production for three weeks, which projects are affected? What are the downstream schedule impacts? What are the contractual exposure points? A Strategic Portfolio Management platform provides the cross-portfolio visibility needed to model these scenarios before they happen.

3. Are our project data and intellectual property protected at the platform level? Project management data, including schedules, cost estimates, resource plans, and design documents, is exactly the kind of sensitive information attackers seek to exfiltrate. PPM security is a direct line of defense against both operational disruption and IP theft.

How to build cyber resilience into your manufacturing operations

Responding to ransomware after an attack is expensive and disruptive. Building resilience before an attack is a strategic advantage. Here is a practical sequence for manufacturing leaders:

1. Inventory all OT and IT assets connected to production systems. You cannot protect assets you do not know exist. Start with a complete discovery exercise.

2. Segment production networks from enterprise IT. Implement DMZs and industrial firewalls to contain potential breaches. This single action reduces the blast radius of most attack vectors.

3. Audit and restrict all vendor remote access. Remove dormant accounts. Require multi-factor authentication for all remote access to production systems. Monitor access continuously.

4. Deploy immutable backups and test production recovery. Backup testing must include physical production system recovery, not just data restoration. Time the recovery process so you know the realistic duration of a production halt.

5. Add cybersecurity risk to the portfolio risk register. Treat cyber risk with the same rigor applied to schedule, budget, and safety risks. Assign ownership, set escalation thresholds, and review at every portfolio governance meeting.

6. Run cross-functional incident response drills quarterly. Include IT, OT, plant management, engineering, and executive leadership. Document response procedures and update them based on drill findings.

Download the full Gartner® report

The 2026 Top Trends for Manufacturing CIOs: Challenges report provides manufacturing leaders with the data, analysis, and recommended actions needed to build ransomware resilience while pursuing digital transformation. Download the report to see how Gartner® recommends addressing ransomware alongside technical debt and geopolitical disruption.

Cora's Strategic Portfolio Management platform helps manufacturing PMOs centralize project data, manage risk across the portfolio, and maintain the operational visibility needed to respond to disruptions quickly. Watch a demo to see how the platform supports your organization's resilience strategy.