Number of ransomware victims up 47 percent since 2022
Trend Micro, one of the world's leading providers of cybersecurity solutions, has released a new analysis showing that a majority of all recent ransomware attacks can be traced back to three major threat actors Lockbit, BlackCat and Clop. The report also shows that the number of new victims has increased by 47 percent since the second half of 2022.
The research shows that many Ransomware-as-a-Service threat actors are focusing more on smaller businesses, which they assume are less well protected. In the first half of the period studied, most LockBit victims (57 percent) and a significant proportion of BlackCat victims (45 percent) globally are companies with fewer than 200 employees. In the case of Clop, large enterprises account for half of the attacks (50 percent), while 27 percent affect small businesses.
Based on telemetry data from the Japanese cybersecurity specialist, 6,697,853 ransomware threats were detected and blocked at the email, URL and file levels in the first six months of 2023. This figure represents a slight decrease of 3.64 percent compared to the second half of 2022, when a total of 6,950,935 ransomware threats were detected.
North America is LockBit's preferred region, accounting for about 41 percent of all victims in the group. Europe accounts for just over a quarter of LockBit victims. About 57 percent of BlackCat victims are also in North America, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. Clop actors show similar geographic preferences. In 2022, BlackCat in particular caused a significant stir in Europe after the group attacked several significant targets.
Other global findings of the report:
- The number of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) victims increased 47 percent from the second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023 (from 1,364 to 2,001 companies)
- The number of new RaaS groupings increased by 11.3 percent during this period to a total of 69 in the first half of 2023.
- LockBit, the leading ransomware family since 2022, is responsible for just over a quarter of attacks, while BlackCat and Clop each account for about 10 percent.
- Finance, retail, and logistics were the industries most affected by ransomware in the first half of 2023.
"We have seen a significant increase in the number of ransomware victims since the second half of 2022," said Richard Werner, business consultant at Trend Micro. "Threat actors continue to innovate, target more victims, and cause significant financial and reputational damage. Companies of all sizes need to prioritize and optimize their cybersecurity measures. Our report is designed to help security professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders make better-informed decisions in the fight against ransomware."
Source: Trend Micro
