Ransomware Payments Plummet

Summary

Ransomware payments dropped 35% in 2024, totaling $813,550,000, marking the second-lowest yearly total in the past five years. This decrease is attributed to increased law enforcement efforts, improved international collaboration, and a growing unwillingness of victims to pay ransoms. Despite this financial downturn, ransomware attacks increased in 2024, indicating a shift in attackers’ tactics and the evolving ransomware landscape.

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Main Story

Alright, let’s talk ransomware. It’s been a wild ride, and 2024 brought some surprising twists. We saw a pretty significant drop in payments, but the threat itself? Still very much alive. Frankly I’m suprised, I thought it would only get worse!

The big headline is a 35% decrease in ransomware payments, landing at $813,550,000. Now, that’s still a lot of money, but it’s the second-lowest we’ve seen in five years. Think about that for a second; after a record-breaking $1.25 billion in 2023, it plummeted. Compare that to 2022’s $655.44 million, and you’ll see something interesting. The first half of ’24 actually saw a slight increase, but then the bottom just fell out in the second half.

So, why the sudden change? Well, a few things are likely at play.

• Law enforcement is stepping up their game. We’re seeing more international cooperation, and they’re making it harder for these criminals to operate with impunity.
• Victims are wising up. There’s a growing reluctance to pay, and honestly I don’t blame them. Do you really trust these guys to give you your data back, or delete it after they’ve been paid? I certainly wouldn’t. It’s like trusting a used car salesman, but worse.

Attacks are Still On the Rise

That said, while payments are down, don’t think for a second that ransomware is going away. The number of attacks actually increased in 2024. That’s right, more companies are being targeted, even if fewer are paying up.

We saw a 2.38% jump in additions to ransomware data leak sites in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2023. And this trend continued, peaking in November, which is ironic, because November also had the lowest number of ransom payments all year. What does this tell us? Well, throughout 2024, less than half of all ransomware attack victims ended up paying anything. Ouch!

The Negotiation Game

What happens when a company gets hit? Well, often there’s a negotiation, but the success rate isn’t exactly stellar. Look, ransomware groups might seem more willing to negotiate and accept lower payments, but don’t be fooled. It’s still a gamble. In fact, less than a third of companies that started negotiating in 2024 actually paid. That should make you think, shouldn’t it?

And that, I think, is the key takeaway here. The distrust is growing. Organizations are starting to realize that restoring from backups and managing the reputational damage is often cheaper and more reliable than paying a ransom. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get your data back, even after you pay. And who wants to reward these criminals anyway? It’s better, if you ask me, to just improve your security and hope you don’t get attacked in the first place. I read an article about this the other day, the author suggested that many businesses were choosing to take the hit and rebuild their system, rather than risk paying for nothing!

So, with law enforcement cracking down and victims refusing to pay, the ransomware landscape is changing. These cybercriminals are being forced to adapt, and we need to stay one step ahead. That’s the bottom line.