Ukraine becomes one of world's main targets for cyberattacks – Microsoft report

Ukraine ranks first in Europe and third in the world in terms of the number of cyberattacks against countries, organisations and users – it accounts for 4.8% of all recorded attacks in the first half of 2026. Only the United States and Israel were attacked more often, according to the new Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2026.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda

Details: Unsurprisingly, Ukraine remains one of the main targets of Russian state hackers, accounting for 14% of all recorded activity. They only carried out more attacks against the United States.

Looking at the overall situation, the public sector is most frequently targeted by cyberattacks – government institutions and services accounted for 27% of all activity, compared to 17% in 2025. The share of phishing attacks also increased significantly, from 7% in 2025 to 23% in the first half of 2026.

The report also noted the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), which significantly reduces response times. Thanks to AI, attackers can exploit an opportunity less than 24 hours after it is discovered. The number of publicly disclosed software vulnerabilities (CVEs) in 2026 is projected to reach a record 72,000.

In addition, attackers are staying undetected for longer. According to the report, the time between gaining access and detecting or stopping cybercriminals increased across several sectors in 2026. At the same time, once detected, organisations began to respond faster.

Read also: Russian hackers used Claude AI to attack Ukrainian government agencies and military – Anthropic report

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Originally reported by Ukrainska Pravda by Dmytro Dzhuhalyk. Read the full story at the source.