The Qilin ransomware group has demonstrated significant activity in 2025, with over 40 victim cases published monthly on their leak site. Their primary targets include manufacturing, professional services, and wholesale trade sectors, indicating a focus on industries critical to supply chains and economic infrastructure. The attackers likely originate from Eastern Europe or Russian-speaking regions, consistent with historical ransomware actor profiles. The attack methodology begins with initial access gained through compromised VPN credentials, allowing attackers to infiltrate corporate networks remotely. Following access, the group conducts reconnaissance to map network topology and identify valuable assets. Credential theft techniques are employed to escalate privileges and facilitate lateral movement across the network. Tools such as Cyberduck are used for data exfiltration, while legitimate Windows applications like notepad.exe and mspaint.exe are leveraged to view sensitive information, evading detection by blending with normal system processes. The ransomware deployment involves two encryptors: one propagated via PsExec, a legitimate Windows tool for executing processes remotely, and another targeting network shares to maximize encryption coverage. The ransomware encrypts files to deny access, deletes backups to prevent recovery, and leaves ransom notes demanding payment. Persistence mechanisms include scheduled tasks and registry modifications, ensuring the malware remains active even after system reboots. The attack techniques align with MITRE ATT&CK tactics such as T1078 (valid accounts), T1021.002 (remote services: SMB/Windows Admin Shares), T1486 (data encrypted for impact), and T1547.001 (registry run keys). No known public exploits are associated with this threat, and no CVSS score is assigned. The overall complexity of exploitation is moderate, requiring initial VPN access credentials but no user interaction during the ransomware phase.

For European organizations, the Qilin ransomware threat poses significant risks to operational continuity, data confidentiality, and integrity. Manufacturing and wholesale trade sectors are vital to European economies, and disruption caused by ransomware can lead to supply chain interruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage. The deletion of backups exacerbates recovery challenges, potentially forcing organizations to consider ransom payments. Professional services firms may face exposure of sensitive client data, leading to regulatory penalties under GDPR and loss of client trust. The use of legitimate tools for lateral movement and data viewing complicates detection and response efforts, increasing dwell time and damage scope. Organizations with remote VPN access are particularly vulnerable, especially if multi-factor authentication is not enforced. The persistence mechanisms employed by Qilin increase the difficulty of complete eradication, potentially leading to prolonged operational impacts. Overall, the threat could cause significant disruption and financial impact across multiple European industries.

European organizations should implement robust VPN security controls, including enforcing multi-factor authentication and monitoring for anomalous access patterns. Network segmentation should be employed to limit lateral movement opportunities, especially between critical manufacturing and IT environments. Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of identifying the use of legitimate tools like PsExec, notepad.exe, and mspaint.exe in suspicious contexts. Regularly audit scheduled tasks and registry run keys for unauthorized persistence mechanisms. Maintain offline, immutable backups to ensure recovery capability even if backups on the network are deleted. Conduct frequent credential hygiene reviews, including password resets and limiting privileged account usage. Implement strict access controls on network shares to reduce ransomware spread. Enhance network traffic monitoring to detect data exfiltration tools such as Cyberduck. Conduct employee training focused on VPN security and phishing prevention to reduce initial access risk. Finally, develop and test incident response plans specifically addressing ransomware scenarios to minimize downtime and data loss.