Europe is seeing expanded state-sponsored activity, with Russia-linked groups focusing on credential theft and intelligence, North Korea-linked actors targeting defense and finance, Chinese operators spanning healthcare, biotech, and government systems across 11 countries (notably led by Vixen Panda), and Iranian IRGC-linked groups conducting phishing and DDoS campaigns against the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, often masking espionage as hacktivism.

Iranian-backed Haywire Kitten claimed responsibility for a DDoS attack on a Dutch news outlet, underscoring the diverse methods used by state-aligned actors.

CrowdStrike warns that ransomware and state-backed attacks are increasingly intertwined, putting European targets in sectors from energy to technology under multi-faceted pressure.

Recommendations emphasize AI-driven threat detection and intelligence-led security postures to counter rapid, complex attacks.

The full 2025 European Threat Landscape Report provides mitigation strategies and in-depth insights for organizations to stay ahead of cyber threats in Europe.

Cloud intrusions rose 26% year over year, with attackers using valid credentials accounting for 35% of initial access in early 2024, and over half the observed vulnerabilities tied to initial access points.

Initial access brokers market access to over 1,400 European organizations, fueling large-scale “Big Game Hunting” against major enterprises.

CrowdStrike advocates intelligence-led defense powered by AI and human expertise as essential to counter Europe’s crowded and complex cyber battlefield.

Adam Meyers, head of Counter Adversary Operations, stresses the need for intelligence-led defense and AI-powered protection to stay ahead of threats in Europe.

There have been 17 physical-attack-related incidents since January 2024 in Europe, including the January 2025 kidnapping of Ledger’s co-founder in France.

Underground marketplaces enable malware-as-a-service, initial access brokerage, and phishing toolkits, fueling rapid ransomware campaigns.

Attacks are accelerating, with an average breach-to-extortion window of about 24 hours, signaling highly aggressive threats for businesses and governments in the region.