By OTS January 31, 2025
The annual Ransomware report for 2024 from the research team of Checkpoint reveals a deep change in cyber threats, with ransomware incidents facing an increase of 11% in 2024 in comparison to 2023.
In particular, Q4’s attacks represented the 33% of all the attacks, making it the most active semester recorded, with a total of 1.827 incidents.
Key findings of the report are outlined below:
General increase: the report records in total 5.414 ransomware attacks in 2024, with an increase of 11% when compared to 2023. The most active period was the fourth semester, with 1.827 incidents which represent the 33% of the annual total.
Geographical focus: United States remained the main target, with a significant activity reported also in Canada, and the United Kingdom. India saw a remarkable increase in attacks as well.
Targeted fields: Business services were affected the most, followed by commerce and construction. The latter saw a significant increase in attacks.
Immersive Groups: In 2024, 46 new ransomware groups were recognized. RansomHub was announced as a dominant new group, leaving behind older groups, such as LockBit, when it comes to activity.
Important facts: The acts of imposing the law led to major disruptions. For example, a big operation targeted at LockBit resulted in arrests and infrastructure confiscation.
Technological trends: There has been an apparent relocation towards the targeting of systems based on Linux and VMware ESXi servers, indicating a strategic change in the ransomware development.
Predictions for the future: the report predicts that the ransomware activities will become more complicated in 2025, with an increased dependance from advanced technologies and continuous focus on targets of value. Source: https://www.checkpoint.com/resources/report-3854/report--cyber-security-report-2024