In the third quarter of 2024, the average ransom payment for cyberattacks in the United States amounted to over 479 thousand U.S. dollars, down from 850 thousand U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2023. This figure had increased significantly since the first quarter of 2022, when the average amount of ransom payments in the U.S. was approximately 212 thousand U.S. dollars.

In 2023, the median initial ransom demand faced by organizations in cyberattacks was 695,000 U.S. dollars, compared to 650,000 U.S. dollars in 2022. Additionally, the median ransom payment decreased by to 237,000 U.S. dollars in 2023 from 350,000 in 2022.

On average, 37% of organisations globally were victims of a ransomware attack between January and February 2021. The top 15 countries that were affected the most were...

On average, ** percent of organizations worldwide were victims of a ransomware attack between January and February 2024, according to a survey conducted among cybersecurity leaders of worldwide organizations. France ranked first by the ransomware rate in companies, with ** percent reporting having encountered such an attack in the last 12 months. Companies in South Africa, Italy, and Austria followed, with up to ** percent of the organizations experiencing ransomware attacks.

In 2023, nearly ** percent of companies worldwide paid ransom to recover data. In 2018, this figure stood at **** percent and gradually increased over the past few years. The highest uptick was between the years 2018 and 2019.

As of the second quarter of 2022, the average length of interruption after ransomware attacks at businesses and organizations in the United States was 24 days. This was less than the downtime duration in previous quarter, 26 days. Overall, between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2021, the average duration of the downtime after a ransomware attack had increased from 15 to 24 days.

In 2023, organizations in the education and research sector saw the highest average weekly number of cyberattacks. The industry registered 2,046 cyberattacks, down from 2,314 in 2022. Government and military entities ranked second, with 1,598 weekly cyberattacks on average, while healthcare followed, with detected 1,500 incidents.

The global indicator 'Estimated Cost of Cybercrime' in the cybersecurity market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total *** trillion U.S. dollars (+***** percent). After the eleventh consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach ***** trillion U.S. dollars and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the indicator 'Estimated Cost of Cybercrime' of the cybersecurity market was continuously increasing over the past years. Ransomware and manufacturing industry Cyberattacks remain a significant challenge for organizations worldwide, sectors such as manufacturing, finance, and insurance were the most affected by these attacks. Among the various types of cyber threats, ransomware was the most frequently detected, accounting for around ** percent of all incidents. The manufacturing industry, in particular, faced the highest number of ransomware attacks, making it the most targeted sector globally. Cybersecurity awareness and investments Organizations worldwide became increasingly aware of the dangers posed by cyberattacks, approximately ** percent of internet users became familiar terms such as with "ransomware." In response to these threats, companies invested more in cybersecurity. In 2024, the average annual increase in IT security budgets was expected to reach *** percent. In fact, for companies worldwide, enhancing the cyber resilience of their cybersecurity teams was the top spending priority in 2023.

In 2023, the worldwide number of malware attacks reached 6.06 billion, an increase of 10 percent compared to the preceding year. In recent years, the highest number of malware attacks was detected in 2018, when 10.5 billion such attacks were reported across the globe. Malware attacks worldwide In 2022, worm malware was blocked over 205 million times. Another common malware type during that period, Emotet, primarily targeted the Asia-Pacific region. Overall, websites are the most common vector for malware attacks and recent industry data found that malware attacks were frequently received via exe files. Most targeted industries In 2022, the education sector was heavily targeted by malware, encountering 2,314 weekly attacks on average. Government and military organizations ranked second, followed by the healthcare units. Overall, in 2022, the education sector saw over five million malware attacks in the examined year.

Between March 2022 and February 2024, the highest average cost of a data breach, nearly **** million U.S. dollars, was detected in the healthcare industry. The financial sector ranked second, with **** million U.S. dollars on average per breach. The global average data breach cost in the measured period was **** million U.S. dollars. Data breaches in the public sector cost relatively low, an average of **** million U.S. dollars during the measured period.