France faces rising ransomware costs and identity security vulnerabilities

A report by cybersecurity firm Sophos reveals that France has become a primary target for ransomware attacks, specifically highlighting vulnerabilities in identity and remote access security. According to the ‘State of Ransomware 2026’ study, 85% of French companies victimized by ransomware identified the incident as a significant identity-related attack, a higher rate than the 67% global average.

While the median ransom demand has decreased by 22% to $500,000, the financial impact of recovery is rising sharply. The average cost for French organizations to recover from an attack, excluding the ransom itself, has increased by 65% compared to 2025, reaching an average of $2.02 million. Additionally, France recorded the highest rate of attacks entering via VPN at 15% among the countries studied.