100+ Ransomware Attack Statistics 2024: Trends & Cost

Ransomware attacks have risen by 13% in the last five years, with an average cost of $1.85 million per incident. By 2031, statistics predict a ransomware attack every two seconds and there were around 236.7 million ransomware attacks globally in the first half of 2022.

Ransomware attacks have been on an upward trend since 2020. This article gives you the analyzed ransomware attack statistics for 2024.

How often do ransomware attacks occur?

There are 1.7 million ransomware attacks every day which means every second 19 ransomware attacks. The first half of 2022 saw nearly 236.7 million ransomware attacks worldwide. Ransomware is expected to cost its victims around $265 billion (USD) annually by 2031.

Top Ransomware Attack Statistics 2024

Here are the top ransomware attack statistics of 2024: 

• The average cost of a ransomware attack was $1.85 million.
• Statistics reveal that a ransomware attack will occur every 2 seconds by 2031. 
• The first half of 2022 saw nearly 236.7 million ransomware attacks worldwide. 
• According to Verizon’s 2022 data breach report, ransomware attacks saw a 13% increase in the past five years. 
• Ransomware accounts for 10% of all breaches.
• 90% of ransomware attacks didn’t result in any loss.  
• Ransomware breaches took 49 days longer than average to identify and contain.

Ransomware Attack Statistics 2024

This section deals with ransomware attack statistics 2024 based on general data, cost, industries, and even detailed attacks that shook businesses. 

General Ransomware Attack Statistics

• The National Health Service (NHS) suffered a $100 million loss due to the WannaCry ransomware attack.
• 10 million people were affected by ransomware scams targeting android users. 
• The percentage of states that enact laws regulating ransomware payments, fines, and negotiations will increase from less than 1% in 2021 to 30% by the end of 2025.
• 2,123 cyber insurance claims in 2022 were due to ransomware attacks.
• Some of the most reported strains of ransomware are Ryuk with 180.4 million targets, SamSam with 103.9 million targets, and Cerber with 28.2 million targets.
• 40% of companies purchased cybersecurity insurance when a cyberattack occurred on another organization in the same industry.
• Recorded Future cataloged 169 ransomware incidents in local and state governments since 2013.
• Eleven percent of breaches in an IBM study were ransomware attacks, a 7.8% increase from 2021, for a growth rate of 41%. 
• 27% of malware breaches involve ransomware.
• A business will fall victim to a ransomware attack every 11 seconds in 2021.
• Compared to 2019, Malware attacks increased by 358%, and ransomware attacks increased by 435%.
• The average ransom demanded in 2020 from governmental related organizations was $570,857, with over $1.75 million actually paid to hackers. 
• Ransomware was the top cause of loss in SMEs at 51% of total incident cost followed by hacking at 18%.
• Macmillan publishing company shut down operations on June 25th, 2022 to prevent the spread of a ransomware attack on their systems.
• 246 ransomware attacks have struck U.S. government organizations at an estimated cost of $52.88 billion. 

The highest ransom demanded from a victim was $70 million in 2021

How Much Does Ransomware Cost?

The average ransomware cost is $4.54 million. The mentioned amount is slightly higher than the overall average total cost of a data breach, USD 4.35 million. The average cost of ransomware attacks went down slightly, from USD 4.62 million in 2021 to USD 4.54 million in 2022. 

Increased Medical Complications Due to Ransomware Attacks 

36% of healthcare facilities reported an increase in medical complications owing to ransomware attacks. The survey conducted revealed that nearly 70% of healthcare organizations saw more extended hospital stays and delays in procedures due to ransomware attacks.

1 in 42 Healthcare Organizations Targeted by Ransomware

The third quarter of 2022 saw 1 in 42 healthcare organizations targeted by ransomware attacks. 74% of ransomware attacks were aimed at hospitals, and 26% at secondary institutions like dental services and nursing homes. 

55% of Insurance Claims are due to Ransomware

A 2022 cyber insurance claims report by Coalition mentions that the ransomware model has begun to mature and the average demand made on customers increased by 20% while the severity of the claims increased by 10%. 

55% of 1500 claims from 2019 to 2021 occurred due to ransomware. While 2,123 claims in 2022 were due to ransomware. Ransomware attacks accounted for 11% of insurance claims in the IT and Communications sector.

Ransomware Attacks accounted for 8% of Healthcare Cyber Claims 

2020 saw nearly 560 healthcare facilities fall victim to ransomware attacks. In the case of healthcare-related cyber insurance claims, ransomware accounted for 8% of them.  Ransomware caused about 81% of claims involving recovery expense losses.

Ransomware Attacks on SMEs Affecting Insurance Claims

Small businesses saw a 40% increase in ransomware attacks and a 56% increase in fund transfer fraud incidents. 

A Cyber claims Study by NetDiligence evaluated 5,797 claims data from 2016 to 2020 and found 32% of ransomware affecting SMEs to be one of the root causes of losses sustained. Manufacturing organizations faced cyber insurance claims for ransomware by 9%. 

Increase in Ransomware Attacks and Demands

Ransomware demands saw a 144% increase in 2021, with the ransomware payouts averaging more than $6 million for victims in the U.S. Ransomware complaints in the US increased by 82%, with a 449% rise in ransom payments between 2019 to 2021.

Ransomware Attack Targeted at Critical Infrastructure

28% of critical infrastructure organizations were targeted by malicious ransomware attacks. These sectors included healthcare, financial services, government organizations, and more. 

74% of ransomware attacks were aimed at hospitals, and 26% at secondary institutions like dental services and nursing homes. 

30% of Phishing Emails Opened Increasing Chances of Downloading Ransomware

Nearly 30% percent of phishing emails are opened increasing the chances of opening or downloading from malicious links that contain ransomware or malware.

Ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) attacks were the leading cause of losses from five years of 2017-2021 at 44% and 50% between the periods of 2020 and 2021 alone.

Ransomware Was More Destructive In 2021

It was estimated that ransomware attacks would quadruple from 2017 to 2020 and grow 5x by 2021. There were 654 reported ransomware attacks in the UK in 2021, double the 326 that were reported in 2020.

Ransomware was far more destructive in 2021 when compared to previous years till 2017. Malware and ransomware are increasingly targeting businesses having claimed over 4.5k victims in 2021.

Ransomware Costs Statistics

• For those organizations that didn’t pay the ransom, the average cost of the breach was USD 5.12 million. 
• For organizations that did pay the ransom, the breach cost USD 4.49 million. The difference in average cost was USD 0.63 million, or 13.1%.
• According to a 2020 report by Sophos, ransomware attack remediation efforts on average cost US$732,500 when a ransom is not paid, and US $1,448,458 when a ransom is paid. 
• Gangs that orchestrate ransomware attacks made a ransomware revenue of more than $400 million in 2020. 

What is The Average Ransom Paid By Industries?

The total ransomware demand for the period accounted for $16.48 million out of which the ransomware payout by healthcare providers was only $ 640,000. 

The average ransom paid by mid-sized organizations is $170,404.

What is The Average Cost of a Ransomware Insurance Claim?

A study showed that ransomware contributed as the number one cause of loss in almost 6000 cyber insurance claims with the average ransom increasing to $ 247,000 and the incident cost, of $352,000. 

When it comes to ransomware, the average cost of an insurance claim comes to around $485k.

Ransomware Facts for Different Industries

This section deals with specific statistics pertaining to ransomware attacks on industries such as healthcare, finance and insurance, education, and governmental organizations. 

1. Healthcare

• 8% of healthcare data breach claims were triggered by ransomware attacks. 
• The year 2019 was estimated to have cost $ 25 billion for the healthcare industry due to ransomware attacks. 
• Ransomware attacks have healthcare providers in the US causing a total loss of $157 million since 2016. 

2. Finance and Insurance

• The insurance sector faced significant losses and claims triggered through ransomware by 4%.
• According to Cybereason, 73% of businesses claim to have been targeted by at least one ransomware attack over the past two years.  
• In the event of a ransomware attack, lower education reported a 99% cyber insurance payout rate, and higher education had a 100% payout rate.

3. Education

• Ransomware attacks increased by 56% in lower education and 64% in higher education in 2021, up from 44% in education in 2020.
• Higher education reported the highest data encryption rate of all sectors at 74%, with lower education only a little behind at 72%. 
• Only 78% of education organizations have cyber insurance coverage against ransomware compared with the global average of 83%.

4. Government

45% of government organizations hit by ransomware, paid to regain access to files.

• According to a 2019 report from CyberEdge, 45 percent of government organizations hit by ransomware paid the ransom to regain access to their computers and files.
• The Texas Department of Information Resources announced that a ransomware attack was launched on 22 municipalities in Texas on August 16, 2019.
• The government of Costa Rica confirmed that a ransomware attack by Conti had taken place on April 17th 2022 demanding a ransom of  $20 million. 

Detailed Ransomware Attacks Statistics 

Here are some of the most staggering statistics of ransomware attacks that took place in 2023-2024. 

1. Nvidia

The largest global semiconductor chip company was compromised by a ransomware attack in February 2022. A malicious actor leaked employee credentials and sensitive information online. 

A ransomware group by the name of Lapsus$ took responsibility for the attack claiming access to 1TB worth of company data that they would leak online. It demanded $1 million and a percentage of an unspecified fee from Nvidia. 

2. Costa Rica

The ransomware attack on the nation began in early April in 2022 resulting in the company declaring a national emergency in response to it. It had a major impact on not just government services but also the private sectors engaged in import/export.

Ransomware group Conti took responsibility for the first attack, asking the government to pay the ransom of $10 million and later increasing it to $20 million. 

On May 31, another attack plunged the country’s healthcare system into disarray. This attack, linked to HIVE, affected the Costa Rican social security fund. 

3. SpiceJet

An attempted ransomware attack earlier in 2022, left the aviation company down for nearly four hours leaving customers stranded in the airports for the entire duration. 

The episode highlighted the dire need for cybersecurity upgrades in the aviation industry and better response plans for the deft handling of such incidents. 

Conclusion

With ransomware attacks seeing an upward trend in the coming years, it is wise to invest and upgrade your cybersecurity features as soon as possible. This helps you stay safe and well ahead of the curve. 

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