Throughout May 2025 (1 May 2025 to 31 May 2025), ransomware attacks against the transportation sector have remained a pressing concern, with newly documented breaches and attempted intrusions emerging across diverse geographies. Our investigation draws upon insights from ransomware.live, corroborated by authoritative sources such as Mandiant (cross-referenced on 9 May 2025), IBM X-Force Exchange (consulted on 14 May 2025), and public advisories from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre on 22 May 2025. The pressures affecting operators in aviation, logistics, and rail services have emphasised both the potency of modern ransomware strains and the sophistication of attacker groups. This report consolidates the most notable incidents within the transportation industry, extracts critical lessons for organisational defence, then broadens its perspective to evaluate the overall threat landscape for large businesses in the United Kingdom and Europe.
In the first week of May 2025, a regional airline operating in Western Europe was reportedly compromised by a variant of the LockBit ransomware. Although detailed post-incident analyses remain partially redacted, investigators found strong evidence of infiltration through an unpatched Microsoft Exchange server CVE-2024-5535, according to Mandiant (6 May 2025). Once inside, the attackers laterally moved through the company’s internal networks to exfiltrate critical flight scheduling data. Early attributions suggest involvement by the threat actor LockBit, known for using extensive reconnaissance of victims’ systems and leveraging advanced privilege escalation techniques. The group’s toolset includes custom malware loaders disguised as legitimate Windows services, combined with techniques that disable endpoint security products before launching file encryption routines. Organisations across the aviation sector should note that rapid patching of externally facing systems, together with continuous network segmentation, helps minimise the risk of broad compromise once attackers breach the perimeter.
Meanwhile, the logistics and shipping segment experienced a serious disruption on 12 May 2025, when a Scandinavian freight operator detected unauthorised data access followed by large-scale encryption of billing records. Investigations reported by IBM X-Force Exchange (15 May 2025) attributed this attack to a ransomware group some researchers associate with Clop. The attackers reportedly exploited software dependencies in a legacy warehousing platform, installing backdoors for persistent access and employing living-off-the-land tactics to evade detection. Evidence indicates that the group uses compromised remote desktop credentials to deploy fileless malware and systematically disrupt backup processes. This incident underscores the necessity of promptly retiring or updating obsolete software assets and enforcing restricted remote access controls, particularly for systems that support mission-critical supply-chain operations.
Beyond these industry-specific breaches, a wider review of publicly reported ransomware incidents in the United Kingdom and across Europe during May 2025 reveals a persistent and resource-intensive threat to large enterprises. Recorded Future (20 May 2025) documented no fewer than thirty-seven major ransomware attacks in key sectors, including manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and retail, with over a third of these events affecting UK-based organisations. Notable among these were cases of double-extortion, wherein threat actors threatened public data leaks in addition to encrypting systems. CrowdStrike Falcon OverWatch (25 May 2025) confirmed that several of these groups appear to be refining their methods by automating initial reconnaissance of Internet-facing assets and deploying advanced credential-stuffing techniques, exacerbating the challenge of timely detection.
Drawing the month’s findings into perspective, the activity within the transportation industry reflects a microcosm of the broader ransomware landscape. Attacker groups appear aligned in their pursuit of operationally critical targets, employing a blend of known vulnerabilities and stealthy intrusion methods to maximise disruption and potential ransom payouts. Lessons from these events signal the importance of layered defences—swift patch management, regular segmentation of core networks, robust monitoring of remote and administrative access, and the use of offensive security testing to identify process weaknesses before malicious actors exploit them.
In conclusion, for organisations operating in the transportation sector, these threats demonstrate that the evolving ransomware ecosystem poses severe risks to service continuity, brand reputation, and customer trust. Across the UK and Europe, the consistent appearance of well-resourced adversaries applying sustained pressure against large organisations suggests that vigilance, proactive vulnerability management, and cyber resilience planning will remain decisive in mitigating future attacks. As further intelligence emerges, we recommend continuous review of advisories published by the UK’s NCSC, the US-based CISA, and leading security firms, alongside dedicated threat group analyses available through our own threat intelligence repository. By adopting strict security policies, committing to routine training and audits, and remaining vigilant against the latest attacker tools, transportation providers can better defend themselves and maintain the trust of the public that relies on their services.
