A small-to-medium manufacturing enterprise (PME) in France fell victim to a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) attack, orchestrated by cybercriminals exploiting weak IT security measures. The attack encrypted critical operational technology (OT) systems linked to production lines, forcing a complete shutdown of factory operations for over three weeks. The company, already financially strained, faced permanent data loss due to inadequate backups and supply chain disruptions, leading to contract cancellations from key clients. The incident occurred during a pending acquisition negotiation, revealing dormant malware in the PME’s network—originally implanted years prior—which attackers leveraged to infiltrate the acquiring corporation’s IT infrastructure post-deal. The combined financial burden of ransom demands (unpaid), legal penalties for data breaches, and reputation damage (including public reports in local press) pushed the PME into bankruptcy within six months, aligning with statistics citing 60% of SMEs collapse post-attack. The acquiring firm later discovered OT process manipulations (e.g., altered production parameters) during forensic analysis, hinting at long-term sabotage risks from the initial compromise.