Ukraine ranked third worldwide and first in Europe among the countries most frequently targeted by cyberattacks, according to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2026

Key findings from the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2026: 

• 63% of intrusions involved data theft; 

• the share of observed intrusions involving phishing rose sharply from 7% in 2025 to 23% in the first half of 2026. At the same time, 89-95% of phishing email attachments were intended to steal credentials rather than deliver malware; 

• in 52.2% of intrusions involving valid accounts, attackers also stole credentials belonging to other users. This shows how quickly a single compromised account can allow an attack to spread across an entire organization; 

• artificial intelligence is reducing the time available to respond to cyber threats. AI enables attackers to work faster: the median time from vulnerability discovery in the wild to weaponization has fallen to well under 24 hours. 

Ukraine ranked second among the countries most frequently targeted by russian state-sponsored hacking groups. russian cyber operations are largely aimed at advancing moscow’s military objectives in its war against Ukraine. The report also notes that russian cyberattacks are becoming stealthier, more adaptive and more effective as the aggressor country increasingly uses AI to make its cyber operations faster and more scalable. 

Top 10 countries most frequently targeted by russian state-sponsored hacking groups