Industry-specific cybersecurity statistics reveal sharp differences across sectors. Healthcare suffers the highest breach costs, finance faces phishing and API abuse, manufacturing battles ransomware and backdoors, and education deals with severe downtime. Retail and hospitality endure seasonal and third-party risks, while auto services face point-of-sale and AI-driven attacks. Each industry needs tailored defenses, not generic cybersecurity measures.

Cyberattacks don’t strike all sectors in the same way. Criminals choose targets depending on the type of data they hold, the technology they depend on, and how quickly victims are likely to pay to restore services. For example, a hospital cannot function without patient records, a bank cannot afford downtime in online transactions, and a retailer cannot risk losing customer trust after a data breach. This uneven impact is why cybersecurity can no longer be treated as one-size-fits-all. The latest industry-specific cybersecurity statistics show how healthcare, finance, education, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and auto services face very different risks, costs, and outcomes.

Healthcare

Healthcare organizations are among the most targeted industries because medical data is sensitive and downtime can cost lives. Attackers use ransomware heavily in this sector, knowing hospitals are under pressure to pay quickly. Costs continue to rise, even though many hospitals are adopting better security standards.

• Healthcare is the third-most attacked industry worldwide.
• Ransomware incidents in the healthcare sector have increased by at least 25%.
• Around 68% of healthcare organizations report experiencing two or more cyberattacks each year.
• More than 70% of U.S. hospitals now follow the NIST security framework.
• Annual breach costs in healthcare dropped by 10.6% compared to the previous year.
• Despite this, breach costs in the sector have risen by 53% since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In 2024, the average cost of a data breach in healthcare was $9.77 million.

Retail

Retailers are consistently targeted because of their reliance on supply chains, third-party vendors, and large volumes of customer payment data. Breaches in this industry not only cause financial losses but also erode consumer trust and can even affect stock performance. Seasonal sales periods often see spikes in activity from attackers.

• An overwhelming 97% of leading U.S. retailers reported experiencing a third-party data breach in the past year.
• The average cost of a breach in retail increased by 18% year over year.
• Retail accounted for about 6% of all data breaches worldwide.

• The average cost of a retail breach was $3.48 million in 2024.
• Roughly 80% of retailers experienced at least one successful cyberattack in the past year.
• About 22% of retailers suffered between seven and fifteen separate attacks.
• Nearly 68% of retailers reported downtime after an attack, while 45% faced supply-chain disruptions and another 45% lost direct sales.
• Around 23% of retailers saw their stock price fall after a breach, and 33% were hit with regulatory fines.
• The most common attack types included supply chain attacks (52%), direct data breaches (48%), phishing campaigns (32%), denial-of-service (32%), and ransomware (24%).

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Finance & Insurance

Banks, insurers, and other financial firms are frequent targets because they handle valuable personal and transactional data. Attackers rely on phishing, bots, and API exploits to break into systems, while compliance regulations raise the pressure to prevent breaches. Even small increases in breach costs translate into millions in losses in this sector.

• API and web application attacks against financial institutions rose by 65% in a single year.
• The finance sector is the third-most targeted industry when it comes to phishing.
• Malicious bot traffic directed at financial services increased by 69% year over year.
• Data breach costs for the financial industry rose by roughly 2.3% compared to the previous year.
• On average, a data breach in finance costs around $5.9 million.
• The typical range for breach costs in this industry is between $5.86 million and $6.08 million.

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Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector is under pressure because operational technology systems are often outdated and lack modern protections. Cybercriminals know that disrupting production lines can cripple supply chains, which makes ransomware particularly effective here. Backdoor attacks are also a common tactic to maintain long-term access.

• About 44% of computers in the manufacturing industry are affected by ransomware attacks.
• Nearly 62% of manufacturing organizations that are hit by ransomware end up paying the ransom.
• The average cost of a data breach in manufacturing was $5.56 million in 2024.
• Backdoor malware made up almost 28% of all cyber incidents in the manufacturing sector.

Hospitality

The hospitality industry manages sensitive guest data, credit card details, and online booking systems, all of which make it a prime target. Seasonal peaks increase the impact of attacks, and new AI-based scams add to the challenge of defending hotel systems. Security teams often struggle with the growing volume and complexity of threats.

• Around 90% of hotel IT and security leaders reported at least one attempted cyberattack during the summer of 2024.
• A total of 82% of hotels admitted that they experienced at least one successful breach.
• Of those, 44% reported downtime lasting longer than 12 hours.
• More than 58% of hospitality organizations faced five or more cyberattacks during a single peak season.

• Two-thirds of hotel leaders said the number of attacks rises during summer, and half said the severity of those attacks also increases.
• Only 48% of hotel security teams felt confident in their ability to detect AI-based threats such as deepfakes.
• Around 32% of respondents said higher credit card transaction volumes during summer made them more vulnerable to attack.
• Hotels that used managed security service providers resolved incidents within 12 hours far more often than those that did not.

Education

Schools, colleges, and universities are prime targets because they hold valuable student and research data but often have limited security budgets. The sector has seen a surge in ransomware, and downtime has both academic and financial consequences. U.S. institutions report especially high rates of incidents compared to other regions.

• Cyberattacks against K–12 schools increased by 92% in the past year.
• A total of 265 education sector institutions were attacked in a single year, which marked a 70% increase.
• About 80% of these ransomware attacks occurred in U.S. schools and universities.
• Nearly 95% of ransomware actors targeting higher education attempted to access backup systems.
• The same proportion of higher education institutions reported revenue loss following ransomware attacks.
• Downtime caused by breaches can cost schools up to $550,000 per day.
• The average cost of a breach in the education sector is around $3.65 million.
• Over the last five years, downtime from attacks has cost the global education sector more than $53 billion.

Auto Service, Repair & Parts

The automotive service sector is increasingly digital, with point-of-sale systems, online booking platforms, and connected diagnostic tools creating new attack surfaces. Many businesses underestimate their exposure, and some incidents are never reported. Point-of-sale attacks remain the top risk, with AI-driven threats also rising.

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• About 68% of auto service businesses reported at least one cyberattack in the past year.
• Around 40% of industry leaders believe that the attack they faced was driven by AI.
• More than 52% of auto service providers said the frequency or severity of attacks increased recently.
• About 44% expect major financial losses or regulatory penalties as a result of cyber incidents.
• Roughly 38% anticipate legal challenges such as lawsuits following a serious breach.
• Another 38% believe they will lose repeat business after a major attack, while 34% fear permanent reputational damage. 

• The most common attack methods are point-of-sale breaches (66%), attacks on websites and mobile apps (38%), compromised IoT diagnostic tools (38%), and breaches of customer portals (32%).
• Around 28% of executives admitted that they hid a cyber incident to avoid repercussions.
• Nearly 62% of incidents were never reported to executive leadership.
• Almost 48% of businesses said they expect payment or scheduling systems to be offline for at least one full day following an attack.
  

To Sum Up

The 2025 industry-specific cybersecurity statistics highlight one unavoidable truth: every sector has its own risk profile. Healthcare deals with soaring ransomware costs, finance grapples with phishing and API abuse, and manufacturing faces rising backdoor intrusions. Education suffers financially from downtime, retail and hospitality are plagued by third-party and seasonal risks, and auto services face point-of-sale attacks and under-reporting. The numbers show that a blanket approach to cybersecurity doesn’t work—defense must be designed around the realities of each industry. 

Top 5 FAQs on Industry-Specific Cybersecurity Statistics

1. What are industry-specific cybersecurity statistics?
   Industry-specific cybersecurity statistics are data points that highlight how different sectors—such as healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and retail—experience unique types of cyber threats, breach costs, and recovery challenges.
2. Why are industry-specific cybersecurity statistics important in 2025?
   Industry-specific cybersecurity statistics in 2025 show how threats like ransomware, phishing, and supply chain attacks are impacting different industries. These insights help businesses tailor their security strategies instead of relying on one-size-fits-all solutions.
3. Which industry has the highest data breach costs according to cybersecurity statistics?
   According to the latest industry-specific cybersecurity statistics, healthcare has the highest average cost of a data breach, reaching $9.77 million in 2024. Finance and manufacturing also face significant costs, though slightly lower.
4. How do industry-specific cybersecurity statistics affect small businesses?
   Small businesses in retail, hospitality, and auto services are heavily impacted because they often lack advanced defenses. Industry-specific cybersecurity statistics show that these sectors face frequent attacks on point-of-sale systems, third-party vendors, and customer portals.
5. Where can businesses use industry-specific cybersecurity statistics for planning?
   Businesses can use industry-specific cybersecurity statistics to prioritize investment in areas most relevant to their sector, such as ransomware defense in healthcare, API security in finance, or downtime prevention in education.