In 2022, the manufacturing industry became a target for the largest share of cyber extortion cases worldwide. Nearly a third of all extortion cases involved manufacturing organizations. Media and telecommunication, education, and transportation were the sectors least impacted by extortion.

In 2023, the police in Canada recorded more than 6,700 thousand cases of cyber extortion. This represents a significant increase compared to 2022 when there were around, 4570 thousand cases. Overall, between 2014 and 2023, cyber extortion in Canada has become more frequent.

In 2021, there were 420 cyber extortion cases reported in Singapore. This was a significant increase compared to the previous year. According to the source, cybercrime made up 48 percent of all crime in Singapore in that year.

In 2022, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of cyber crimes with extortion as a motive with over one thousand cases registered with the authorities. The country recorded a total of over 3.6 thousand cases of cyber crimes motivated by extortion that year. These crimes came under the purview of numerous sections of the Indian Penal Code under Information Technology Act (Cyber crimes).

In 2023, the most common type of cyber crime reported to the United States internet Crime Complaint Center was phishing and spoofing, affecting approximately 298 thousand individuals. In addition, over 55 thousand cases of personal data breaches cases were reported to the IC3 during that year. Dynamic of phishing attacks Over the past few years, phishing attacks have increased significantly. In 2023, almost 300 thousand individuals fell victim to such attacks. The highest number of phishing scam victims since 2018 was recorded in 2021, approximately 324 thousand.Phishing attacks can take many shapes. Bulk phishing, smishing, and business e-mail compromise (BEC) are the most common types. In 2023, 76 percent of the surveyed worldwide organizations reported encountering bulk phishing attacks, while roughly three in four were targeted by smishing scams. Impact of phishing attacks Among the most targeted industries by cybercriminals are healthcare, financial, manufacturing, and education institutions. An observation carried out in the first quarter of 2023 found that social media was most likely to encounter phishing attacks. According to the reports, almost a quarter of them stated being targeted by a phishing scam in the measured period. Very often, phishing e-mails contain a crucial risk for the organization. Almost three in ten worldwide organizations that have experienced phishing attacks suffered from a customer or a client data breach as a consequence. Phishing scams that delivered ransomware infections were also common for the surveyed organizations.

In 2023, the Italian authorities covering cyber crime and online safety investigated almost 1,500 cases of online blackmailing and sextortion. The authorities put approximately 165 people under investigation for sextortion in the last examined year, while three people were arrested.

There were 37,959 blackmail offences reported by the police in England and Wales in 2023/24. Between 2002/03 and 2013/14 the number of blackmail offences fluctuated from a low of 1,201 in 2007/08 and a high of 2,481. From 2014/15 onwards, however, the number of offences has increased dramatically, reaching a peak in the most reporting year. This rise in blackmail has also occurred in Scotland, which saw extortion crimes reach 2,008 offences in 2022/23, compared with just 441 in 2019/20. In Northern Ireland, there were 937 blackmail offences, compared with 266 in 2019/20. What is driving the increase in blackmail? The steep rise in blackmail and extortion offences recently is likely related to the proliferation of cyber crime in the United Kingdom. In a 2019 survey, for example, five percent of respondents reported being the victims of device hacking-related extortion at least once. A 2023 global survey on cybercrime, also revealed that around a quarter of respondents had been the victim of an extortion e-mail scam. Extortion based on the threat to distribute intimate images, or sextortion, is another aspect of the increase in blackmail crime. There has been a steep rise in the number of revenge porn reports, with women in particular being targeted by online intimate image abuse. Crime on the rise since the mid-2010s While not rising as dramatically as blackmail offences, overall crime in England and Wales has also been on the rise. In 2022/23, for example, there were 6.74 million crime offences, compared with just 4.03 million in 2013/14. Although there are undoubtedly several factors that have influenced this overall rise in crime, the cuts to police funding between 2009/10 and 2016/17, along with the decline in police officers that occurred as a result, are possibly two of the most important reasons. Other areas of the justice system are also under significant pressure, with courts struggling with a backlog of cases, and prisons operating very close to capacity in recent month.

In 2019, the most common cybersecurity measure taken by surveyed enterprises in Singapore was using virus checking or protection software, with 93 percent of surveyed enterprises stating that they used such software. Cybersecurity measures should be prioritized by enterprises to protect their business from cybercrimes such as cyber extortion, which amounted to 70 reported cases in Singapore in the same year.

Out of the 1,569 cybercrime offenses reported in Argentina in 2020, 284 (or 18.1 percent) were frauds. That year, the number of cases of phishing attacks and extortion amounted to 264 (16.8 percent of the total) and 262 (16.7 percent), respectively.

In 2023, organizations all around the world detected 317.59 million ransomware attempts. Overall, this number decreased significantly between the third and fourth quarters of 2022, going from around 102 million to nearly 155 million cases, respectively. Ransomware attacks usually target organizations that collect large amounts of data and are critically important. In case of an attack, these organizations prefer paying the ransom to restore stolen data rather than to report the attack immediately. The incidents of data loss also damage companies’ reputation, which is one of the reasons why ransomware attacks are not reported. Most targeted industries and regions As a part of critical infrastructure, the manufacturing industry is usually targeted by ransomware attacks. In 2022, manufacturing organizations worldwide saw 437 such attacks. The food and beverage industry ranked second, with over 50 ransomware attacks. By the share of ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure, North America ranked first among other worldwide regions, followed by Europe. Healthcare and public health sector organizations filed the highest number of complaints to the U.S. law enforcement in 2022 about ransomware attacks. Ransomware as a service (RaaS) The Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) business model has existed for over a decade. The model involves hackers and affiliates. Hackers develop ransomware attack models and sell them to affiliates. The latter then use them independently to attack targets. According to the business model, the hacker who created the RaaS receives a service fee per collected ransom. In the first quarter of 2022, there were 31 Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) extortion groups worldwide, compared to the 19 such groups in the same quarter of 2021.

The global indicator 'Estimated Cost of Cybercrime' in the cybersecurity market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 6.4 trillion U.S. dollars (+69.41 percent). After the eleventh consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach 15.63 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 70 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 40 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 5.7 percent. In fact, for companies worldwide, enhancing the cyber resilience of their cybersecurity teams was the top spending priority in 2023.

The Crime Victimization Survey, conducted in Israel in 2021, examines the level of personal security of individuals. The survey measures the victimization of individuals through reported and unreported crimes, and assists in the formation of data-based policies in this area. The most common cybercrime incidents reported by respondents were information theft and/or unauthorized distribution of information at 38.6 percent, followed closely by identity theft at 37.8 percent. Computer-related crimes and extortion each account for about one-fifth of the total number of cybercrime incidents.

On average, 59 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 74 percent reporting having encountered such an attack in the last 12 months. Companies in South Africa, Italy, and Austria followed, with up to 69 percent of the organizations experiencing ransomware attacks.

In 2021, the Revenge Porn Helpline, run by the Safer Internet Center in the United Kingdom, received 4,406 reports for non-consensual image sharing and intimate blackmail. Between 2019 and 2021, reports to the Revenge Porn Helpline grew by over 160 percent. In recent years, the increase in usage of online communication systems during the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by an increase in cases of so-called "revenge porn" crimes and online intimate image abuse. At the beginning of 2022, 27 percent of online intimate image abuse victims in the UK were women aged between 30 and 39 years.