Building and Construction Industry Tops Global Cyberattack List

In recent developments surrounding the cybersecurity space, the construction sector has emerged as a leading target for advanced cyber attacks globally in 2025.

Threat actors such as state-backed APT groups, organized cybercriminal networks, ransomware operators from nations like Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China are increasingly prioritizing attacking the construction sector.

According to a recent research from Rapid7, these threat actors are capitalizing on the industry’s growing adoption of digital systems and the weaknesses in their digital security to easily access networks and exfiltrate useful data.

The Building and Construction Sector: A Primary Target for Threat Actors

As per the report, the growing threat emerges from the building and construction industry’s increasing reliance on vulnerable IoT-operated machinery, cloud-based project management platforms, and Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems.

Even with their improved operational efficiencies, the same technologies create new, even more specific entry points for threat actor exploitation.

For construction firms, the risk of ransomware campaigns designed to disrupt important project schedules, supply chain attacks on third-party software and hardware vendors, and social engineering attacks aimed at physical workers rather than remote work all represent a high operational and financial risk.

In a context that includes the construction industry, a primary entry point for cybercriminals is initial access to networks. The report found that these online brokers usually sell off network access types, such as Citrix, FTP, SSH, VPN, and RDP.

According to the report, cybercriminals usually prefer to purchase pre-compromised network credentials from forums on the darknet. Mind you, this global marketplace for stolen data is not limited to any one sector. Recently, there has been a surge of attacks targeting African education and telecom systems, too. Usually, the cost of stolen credentials depends largely on the victim company’s size and the network complexity used. Therefore, enterprise building and construction companies have been the most targeted victims of cyber attackers.

This credential-based hack methodology easily bypasses mainstream digital securities and enables threat actors to create network sessions that seem legitimate. As a direct consequence of this, these attackers can navigate enormous interconnected systems without being detected while doing so.

Attackers have the ability to quickly exfiltrate sensitive and valuable data, such as contracts related to projects, architectural designs and plans, personally identifiable credentials, or payroll records related to subcontractors or employees.

Social Engineering Attacks

Notably, the operational characteristics of companies in the construction industry provide an ideal environment for threat actors to conduct social engineering attacks.

A broad workforce operating across numerous job locations, complex vendor networks, and tight project deadlines offers threat actors with multiple manipulation vectors.

The report also indicated that hackers most commonly impersonate vendors, project managers, or the company executive involved via phishing emails, phone conversations, or text messages. These attackers tend to ask for quick payments, access to sensitive documents, or to provide credentials.

Also, vendor impersonation tactics tend to be effective for such actors, as they usually request payment detail adjustments or send fake invoices that exploit the sector’s dependence on comprehensive subcontractor networks.

Another effective entry method for attackers is executive impersonation, as the hackers use urgency to pressure workers into transferring funds or providing crucial information before verification procedures can be effected.

It is worth noting that building and construction projects usually involve either dozens or hundreds of unique partners, with each bringing in their own security posture and possible risks.