Cyber Claims 2025: What It Means for the Future of Breach Defense

Cyber risk continues to evolve, and the 2025 NetDiligence Cyber Claims Study shows what organizations are really facing. From ransomware’s ongoing grip to the rising impact of third-party breaches, the findings provide a roadmap for how businesses should prepare — and where partners like Pondurance can make a difference. Note all data and analysis is based on prior year claims for cyber insurance carriers and opinion and analysis of the data from Pondurance.

What the Data Shows

• Ransomware Still Rules: While ransom demands aren’t skyrocketing, downtime and recovery costs remain a heavy burden.

• Business Email Compromise on the Rise: Fraudulent transfers and impersonated vendors are costing businesses millions.

• Vendors as Weak Links: Third-party providers and SaaS platforms continue to trigger cascading breaches.

• The Regulatory Price Tag: Legal fees, fines, and compliance obligations are now a bigger share of the fallout.

• Target-Rich Industries: Healthcare, education, and finance remain at the top of attackers’ lists.

The key message: cybercriminals are pragmatic. They follow the money, exploit the weakest link, and focus on where disruption creates leverage.

What This Means for Security Monitoring

For organizations and their security partners, these findings point to a few clear priorities:

• Look Beyond Encryption: Ransomware defense isn’t just about backups — it’s about spotting suspicious activity before lockout occurs.

• Watch the Inbox Closely: Human error fuels BEC. Strong monitoring around financial processes and user activity is essential.

• Don’t Forget Your Vendors: Security must extend to cloud services and supply chains, not just internal systems.

• Think Compliance from the Start: Fast, accurate reporting and evidence handling can mitigate regulatory costs.

• Tailor to Your Sector: Every industry has different vulnerabilities, and monitoring needs to reflect that.

How Pondurance Can Help

While the data shows where risks are growing, organizations don’t have to navigate this landscape alone. Pondurance partners with businesses to strengthen resilience across three critical fronts:

• Cyber Advisory: Helping organizations build stronger strategies around compliance, vendor risk, and industry-specific defenses. This ensures security investments align with both business goals and regulatory requirements.

• Managed Detection & Response (MDR): Delivering 24/7 monitoring to spot ransomware behaviors, flag suspicious emails, and extend visibility into cloud and vendor ecosystems. Our MDR analysts act as an extension of your team, providing human-driven context when it matters most.

• Digital Forensics & Incident Response (DFIR): When incidents occur, speed and clarity are critical. Pondurance provides immediate response, forensic investigation, and guidance to ensure both recovery and regulatory obligations are handled effectively.

Together, these services help organizations not just react to today’s threats, but proactively prepare for what’s next.

What’s Ahead in 2026

Looking forward, we can expect:

• More Small-Scale Ransomware Hits: Mid-tier operators will increasingly target smaller, less-defended organizations.

• AI-Fueled Scams: Deepfake calls, realistic phishing, and voice fraud will amplify business email compromise.

• Supply Chain Breaches as the Norm: Vendor incidents may become the single largest source of compromise.

• Blended Extortion: Attackers will combine ransomware, DDoS, and data theft into multi-pronged campaigns.

• Tighter Regulatory Deadlines: Faster reporting rules will demand incident response processes that are “compliance ready.”

• New Industry Targets: Manufacturing and industrial IoT may join healthcare and finance as top attacker priorities.

The Bottom Line

Cyber threats aren’t slowing down — they’re diversifying. The winners in 2026 will be those who:

• Strengthen supply chain visibility.

• Defend against people-focused scams as much as technical exploits.

• Bake compliance readiness into their response plans.

• Adapt playbooks to match sector-specific risks.

At Pondurance, our mission is to help organizations stay ahead of this shifting threat landscape — with the right strategy, the right monitoring, and the right response when it matters most. From integrated IT Assets, continuous Rapid Risk Assessments, end pre-encryption protection, to end user testing (multi-channel) and user risk scoring, Pondurance has established a end to end solution that leads the industry in cyber risk reduction. See how Pondurance can transform your cybersecurity strategy.