The cyber ripple effect is growing—and every organization is now part of it.
When a cyber incident occurs, its impact often extends far beyond the organization that was initially compromised.
In today’s hyper-connected business environment, a single event can cascade through suppliers, vendors, and customers—creating what researchers call multi-party incidents, or ripple events.
The new Ripples Across the Risk Surface 2025 report from Cyentia Institute and RiskRecon by Mastercard explores this phenomenon in depth. Drawing on more than 1,500 multi-party cybersecurity incidents from 2008–2024, the study reveals how and where these ripple effects occur—and what organizations can do to avoid becoming part of the next chain reaction.
Ripple events are rare, but remarkably costly
The data shows that multi-party incidents represent only a small fraction of overall cyber events—but their impact is exponentially greater.
Losses per firm in ripple events are up to 10 times higher than single-party breaches, underscoring how shared dependencies amplify damage across connected systems.
Historically, most losses were borne by the generator—the organization where the incident originated. But this year’s report reveals an alarming trend: downstream losses among impacted partners are now rivaling those of the initial victim.
In other words, even if your organization wasn’t the one breached, you may still pay the price.
A decade of ripples across the ecosystem
The Ripples 2025 report analyzed a sixteen-year span of cyber incidents, uncovering several key patterns:
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1,200+ organizations have served as the initial “ripple generators,” while more than 12,000 firms were affected downstream.
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Ripple frequency peaked in the 2010s and has since stabilized—but losses have continued to climb, suggesting that ripple incidents are becoming more severe and interconnected.
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Larger enterprises ($10B+ revenue) are twice as likely to both generate and receive ripple events, a reflection of their extensive digital ecosystems.
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Sectors like Finance, Healthcare, and Education face the highest rates of downstream impact due to their dense supplier and data-sharing networks.
These findings paint a clear picture: as digital supply chains deepen, cyber risk has become an ecosystem problem—not an individual one.
Every connection creates exposure
The modern enterprise operates within a complex web of digital relationships. Cloud providers, payment processors, marketing platforms, and third-party SaaS tools all link together, forming the arteries of business operations—and potential conduits for cyber risk.
A vulnerability in one vendor’s system can quickly spread through shared APIs, data repositories, and authentication mechanisms.
That’s why ripple events often propagate from mid-sized firms to smaller suppliers, magnifying systemic risk across tiers.
The lesson is simple but powerful: you can’t secure what you can’t see.
Visibility is your first line of defense
Preventing ripple effects starts with understanding where your digital dependencies lie and how secure those connections are.
Visibility into the cybersecurity hygiene of your third- and fourth-party vendors allows you to identify high-risk relationships before they become liabilities.
That’s where RiskRecon by Mastercard comes in.
RiskRecon continuously monitors and rates the cybersecurity performance of vendors, suppliers, and partners, helping organizations prioritize risk and strengthen their ecosystems with data-driven insight.
A connected future demands collective resilience
As the report makes clear, ripple events are not isolated anomalies—they are the natural consequence of an interconnected digital world.
The organizations that will thrive in this environment are those that build trust into their ecosystems, ensuring that every connection strengthens rather than weakens their resilience.
Your vendors’ risks are your risks.
Understanding them is the first step to stopping the ripple before it spreads.
Take the next step
Gain visibility into your vendor ecosystem and reduce the risk of ripple effects across your business.
Start your free trial of RiskRecon by Mastercard and instantly view the cyber risk ratings of up to 50 vendors in your portfolio.
