Ransomware victims increased by 26 percent in 2024
Nearly 5,300 ransomware victims were reported last year, a 26 percent increase from the previous year, according to new analysis.
The Cybernews team looked at data from the Ransomlooker tool, which monitors the dark web and other hidden areas of the internet, and found that the number active ransomware gangs also grew over the previous year.
The number of LockBit victims fell significantly to around 530, a 50 percent decrease, but the gang still held the top spot among cybercrooks in 2024. RansomHub took second place despite only emerging in 2024, hitting nearly 500 organizations and showing a startling ability to scale operations at pace. The Play ransomware gang held onto third place for a second year in a row with nearly 350 victims. The gang focused its efforts on targeting sectors like manufacturing/industrial, real estate/construction, and technology.
Another interesting trend the research notes is the seasonal pattern of ransomware group activity. For example, spring and autumn were the most active periods for malicious actors, with nearly 1,600 victimized organizations in fall and another 1,500 in spring.
"The trend suggests that ransomware gangs might strategically target these periods when businesses are fully operational. Summer, on the other hand, was the least active season in 2024 with 1088 victims, marking a shift from historical patterns observed in previous years," the researchers note.
The United States holds the unenviable crown as the most targeted country in the world. Ransomlooker data shows that over 1,700 organizations were victimized in the US, far surpassing others. The second and third-place holders, Canada and the UK, had more than ten times fewer victims.
India, the fourth-place holder, was absent from the top targeted country list from 2021 through 2023 but emerged as a hot target in 2024.
You can read more of the findings on the Cybernews site.
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