GITNUXREPORT 2026

Ransomware Statistics

Ransomware attacks surged last year, hitting more victims and costing significantly more.

Rajesh Patel

Team Lead & Senior Researcher with over 15 years of experience in market research and data analytics.

First published: Feb 13, 2026

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Statistic 1

Phishing emails were the initial attack vector in 59% of ransomware incidents reported in 2023.

Statistic 2

Exploit of unpatched vulnerabilities caused 32% of ransomware breaches in 2023.

Statistic 3

RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) compromises led to 22% of ransomware infections in 2023.

Statistic 4

Supply chain attacks accounted for 15% of ransomware vectors in 2023.

Statistic 5

Malware-less ransomware attacks increased by 20% using living-off-the-land techniques.

Statistic 6

Encrypted file extensions varied with 50 new variants in Q4 2023 alone.

Statistic 7

Initial access brokers sold ransomware entry points for $1,000-$10,000 on dark web.

Statistic 8

Ransom negotiation services reduced payments by 40% on average in 2023.

Statistic 9

Social engineering via phone (vishing) rose 50% in ransomware campaigns.

Statistic 10

Triple extortion (encrypt, steal, DDoS) used in 10% of attacks in 2023.

Statistic 11

VPN flaws exploited in 29% of ransomware initial accesses.

Statistic 12

Credential stuffing from breaches led to 18% ransomware entries.

Statistic 13

Brute-force attacks on weak passwords caused 12% of infections.

Statistic 14

Watering hole attacks rose 30% targeting specific industries.

Statistic 15

DLL side-loading used in 8% of ransomware deployment tactics.

Statistic 16

Cobalt Strike beacons preceded 60% of ransomware deployments.

Statistic 17

Spear-phishing success rate was 11% for ransomware delivery.

Statistic 18

PowerShell scripts abused in 25% ransomware execution chains.

Statistic 19

Fileless malware variants up 40% in ransomware toolkits.

Statistic 20

Evilginx2 phishing kits sold for ransomware access brokers.

Statistic 21

WMI exploits used in 14% lateral movement phases.

Statistic 22

Beaconing C2 traffic detected in 70% ransomware ops.

Statistic 23

PsExec tool abused in 35% privilege escalations.

Statistic 24

LOLBins exploited in 50% ransomware persistence.

Statistic 25

Mimikatz dumps creds in 65% ransomware attacks.

Statistic 26

SMB beacon implants in 28% initial footholds.

Statistic 27

Only 37% of ransomware victims in 2023 chose to pay the ransom, down from higher rates in previous years.

Statistic 28

66% of organizations that paid ransoms in 2023 recovered all their data.

Statistic 29

Backup solutions prevented data loss in 72% of ransomware attacks where backups were available.

Statistic 30

Incident response time averaged 11 days for ransomware victims in 2023.

Statistic 31

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) blocked 99% of account takeover attempts in ransomware scenarios.

Statistic 32

Endpoint detection tools stopped ransomware in 80% of tested cases in 2023.

Statistic 33

92% of ransomware victims with immutable backups fully recovered without paying.

Statistic 34

Zero-trust architecture reduced ransomware spread by 70% in implementations.

Statistic 35

AI-driven anomaly detection caught 85% of ransomware encryptions early.

Statistic 36

Cloud backups restored 95% of data without ransom in prepared orgs.

Statistic 37

Employee training reduced phishing success by 60% against ransomware.

Statistic 38

Network segmentation limited ransomware to 20% of systems on average.

Statistic 39

EDR solutions decrypted 75% of test ransomware without backups.

Statistic 40

Offsite backups enabled 88% full recovery rates in 2023.

Statistic 41

Patch management reduced vuln exploits by 90% in mature orgs.

Statistic 42

SIEM alerts detected ransomware in under 1 hour for 65% cases.

Statistic 43

Air-gapped systems protected 100% against lateral movement.

Statistic 44

Threat hunting teams contained ransomware in 4 hours average.

Statistic 45

Ransomware simulators trained 90% better detection rates.

Statistic 46

Immutable storage prevented 98% encryption attempts.

Statistic 47

XDR platforms reduced MTTR to 2 days for ransomware.

Statistic 48

Automated backups scripted recovery in 82% cases.

Statistic 49

SOAR playbooks automated 75% ransomware responses.

Statistic 50

Deception tech lured 88% attackers into traps.

Statistic 51

Privilege access management blocked 92% escalations.

Statistic 52

UEBA flagged anomalous behavior in 78% cases.

Statistic 53

The average ransomware recovery cost for organizations hit in 2023 reached $2.73 million, up 51% from the previous year.

Statistic 54

U.S. organizations faced an average ransomware downtime of 24 days in 2023.

Statistic 55

The median ransom demand in 2023 was $1.54 million, with payments averaging $1.42 million.

Statistic 56

Average cost of a ransomware attack including lost revenue was $4.88 million in 2023.

Statistic 57

Ransom payments by U.S. healthcare providers exceeded $100 million in 2023.

Statistic 58

Global economic loss from ransomware estimated at $20 billion in 2023.

Statistic 59

Average downtime cost per ransomware incident was $8,440 per minute in 2023.

Statistic 60

Breach notification costs averaged $250,000 per ransomware event in 2023.

Statistic 61

Productivity losses from ransomware averaged 21 days per incident in 2023.

Statistic 62

Insurance premiums for cyber policies rose 50% due to ransomware claims in 2023.

Statistic 63

Forensic investigation costs averaged $500,000 per ransomware case.

Statistic 64

Ransom payment recovery success was only 58% for data restoration.

Statistic 65

Legal fees post-ransomware averaged $150,000 per U.S. incident.

Statistic 66

Customer notification expenses hit $1.5M average for large breaches.

Statistic 67

Reputation damage cost 25% of total ransomware expenses.

Statistic 68

Public cloud misconfigs led to 16% ransomware data exfils.

Statistic 69

Lost business opportunities post-attack averaged $2.5M.

Statistic 70

Cyber insurance denials rose 20% for non-compliant victims.

Statistic 71

Average ransom negotiation time was 6.3 days in 2023.

Statistic 72

Fines under GDPR averaged €1.2M for ransomware disclosures.

Statistic 73

PR crisis management cost $300K average post-attack.

Statistic 74

Supply chain disruption costs hit $10M per major incident.

Statistic 75

Employee turnover post-ransomware averaged 12% increase.

Statistic 76

Third-party vendor breaches caused 25% ransomware.

Statistic 77

Increased audit costs post-incident up 40%.

Statistic 78

Vendor lock-in recovery costs added $1M extra.

Statistic 79

In 2023, ransomware attacks increased by 37% compared to 2022, with over 2,500 reported incidents worldwide.

Statistic 80

Global ransomware payments totaled $1.1 billion in 2023, a 33% increase from 2022.

Statistic 81

Ransomware groups like LockBit were responsible for 25% of attacks in 2023.

Statistic 82

Double extortion tactics were used in 72% of ransomware attacks tracked in 2023.

Statistic 83

Number of active ransomware strains rose to 153 in 2023 from 64 in 2022.

Statistic 84

Ransomware leak sites published data from 2,200 victims in 2023.

Statistic 85

LockBit 3.0 variant impacted 1,200 organizations globally in 2023.

Statistic 86

Conti ransomware group extorted $180 million before disbanding remnants in 2023.

Statistic 87

Ryuk ransomware evolved into new strains affecting 500+ victims in 2023.

Statistic 88

BlackCat/ALPHV claimed 300 victims on leak site before 2023 takedown attempt.

Statistic 89

Akira ransomware hit 100+ orgs with average demand of $1M in 2023.

Statistic 90

Clop ransomware exploited MOVEit vulnerability affecting 2,000 orgs.

Statistic 91

Medusa locker targeted 150 victims with RaaS model in 2023.

Statistic 92

Hive ransomware dismantled by FBI, impacting 1,500 victims prior.

Statistic 93

Royal ransomware leaked data from 400+ orgs in 2023.

Statistic 94

Vice Society targeted schools with 250+ incidents in 2023.

Statistic 95

Snatch ransomware affected 1,000+ Windows systems in 2023.

Statistic 96

Play ransomware published 500 victim datasets in 2023.

Statistic 97

LockBit claimed responsibility for 2,700 attacks in 2023.

Statistic 98

BianLian extorted 80 orgs before disruption in 2023.

Statistic 99

Rhysida ransomware leaked 130GB data from hospitals.

Statistic 100

8Base RaaS impacted 300 victims with $500K demands.

Statistic 101

DragonForce hit 200 orgs with encrypt-and-delete tactic.

Statistic 102

RansomHub emerged with 100 victims in first quarter.

Statistic 103

Inc ransomware targeted 150 construction firms.

Statistic 104

BlackSuit variant hit 400 orgs post-rebrand.

Statistic 105

Healthcare organizations accounted for 20% of ransomware victims in 2023, making it the most targeted sector.

Statistic 106

Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees represented 43% of ransomware victims in Q1 2023.

Statistic 107

Government entities saw a 150% rise in ransomware attacks from 2022 to 2023.

Statistic 108

Education sector experienced ransomware attacks every 11 seconds on average in 2023.

Statistic 109

Critical infrastructure sectors like energy faced 40% of ransomware incidents in 2023.

Statistic 110

Manufacturing industry reported 1 in 10 firms hit by ransomware in 2023.

Statistic 111

Non-profits saw a 200% surge in ransomware targeting in 2023.

Statistic 112

Retail sector had 25% ransomware attack success rate due to weak patches.

Statistic 113

Law enforcement disrupted 14 ransomware groups in 2023 operations.

Statistic 114

Transportation sector faced 30% of U.S. ransomware incidents in 2023.

Statistic 115

Financial services had 5% attack rate but 15% payment rate in 2023.

Statistic 116

Public sector in Europe saw 2x ransomware incidents in 2023.

Statistic 117

Hospitality industry reported 12% ransomware prevalence in 2023 surveys.

Statistic 118

Utilities sector endured 25-day average outages from ransomware.

Statistic 119

Professional services hit by ransomware every 39 seconds globally.

Statistic 120

Construction firms saw 18% ransomware attack rate in 2023.

Statistic 121

Healthcare ransomware incidents doubled to 250 in U.S. 2023.

Statistic 122

Real estate sector faced 22% ransomware prevalence.

Statistic 123

Local governments in U.S. hit 140 times by ransomware.

Statistic 124

Waste management sector saw 15 ransomware incidents monthly.

Statistic 125

Telecoms reported 28% ransomware targeting rate.

Statistic 126

Agriculture sector up 300% in ransomware attacks.

Statistic 127

Mining industry faced 20 daily ransomware attempts.

Statistic 128

Oil & gas had 18% attack success due to OT legacy.

Statistic 129

Pharmaceuticals saw 35 incidents in 2023 alone.

Statistic 130

Logistics firms disrupted 50 times weekly.

1/130

Sources

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In a year where ransomware attacks spiked to new heights, crippling businesses every 11 seconds and draining billions from the global economy, a deep dive into the alarming 2023 statistics reveals not only the escalating threat but also the critical defenses that can mean the difference between recovery and ruin.

Key Takeaways

In 2023, ransomware attacks increased by 37% compared to 2022, with over 2,500 reported incidents worldwide.
Global ransomware payments totaled $1.1 billion in 2023, a 33% increase from 2022.
Ransomware groups like LockBit were responsible for 25% of attacks in 2023.
The average ransomware recovery cost for organizations hit in 2023 reached $2.73 million, up 51% from the previous year.
U.S. organizations faced an average ransomware downtime of 24 days in 2023.
The median ransom demand in 2023 was $1.54 million, with payments averaging $1.42 million.
Healthcare organizations accounted for 20% of ransomware victims in 2023, making it the most targeted sector.
Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees represented 43% of ransomware victims in Q1 2023.
Government entities saw a 150% rise in ransomware attacks from 2022 to 2023.
Phishing emails were the initial attack vector in 59% of ransomware incidents reported in 2023.
Exploit of unpatched vulnerabilities caused 32% of ransomware breaches in 2023.
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) compromises led to 22% of ransomware infections in 2023.
Only 37% of ransomware victims in 2023 chose to pay the ransom, down from higher rates in previous years.
66% of organizations that paid ransoms in 2023 recovered all their data.
Backup solutions prevented data loss in 72% of ransomware attacks where backups were available.

Ransomware attacks surged last year, hitting more victims and costing significantly more.

Attack Techniques

Phishing emails were the initial attack vector in 59% of ransomware incidents reported in 2023.
Exploit of unpatched vulnerabilities caused 32% of ransomware breaches in 2023.
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) compromises led to 22% of ransomware infections in 2023.
Supply chain attacks accounted for 15% of ransomware vectors in 2023.
Malware-less ransomware attacks increased by 20% using living-off-the-land techniques.
Encrypted file extensions varied with 50 new variants in Q4 2023 alone.
Initial access brokers sold ransomware entry points for $1,000-$10,000 on dark web.
Ransom negotiation services reduced payments by 40% on average in 2023.
Social engineering via phone (vishing) rose 50% in ransomware campaigns.
Triple extortion (encrypt, steal, DDoS) used in 10% of attacks in 2023.
VPN flaws exploited in 29% of ransomware initial accesses.
Credential stuffing from breaches led to 18% ransomware entries.
Brute-force attacks on weak passwords caused 12% of infections.
Watering hole attacks rose 30% targeting specific industries.
DLL side-loading used in 8% of ransomware deployment tactics.
Cobalt Strike beacons preceded 60% of ransomware deployments.
Spear-phishing success rate was 11% for ransomware delivery.
PowerShell scripts abused in 25% ransomware execution chains.
Fileless malware variants up 40% in ransomware toolkits.
Evilginx2 phishing kits sold for ransomware access brokers.
WMI exploits used in 14% lateral movement phases.
Beaconing C2 traffic detected in 70% ransomware ops.
PsExec tool abused in 35% privilege escalations.
LOLBins exploited in 50% ransomware persistence.
Mimikatz dumps creds in 65% ransomware attacks.
SMB beacon implants in 28% initial footholds.

Attack Techniques Interpretation

While cybercriminals have diversified their toolkit, from phishing to patching laziness, their strategy remains tragically simple: prey on predictable human errors and sold corporate secrets, then charge a fortune for the recovery services they've made essential.

Defense and Recovery

Only 37% of ransomware victims in 2023 chose to pay the ransom, down from higher rates in previous years.
66% of organizations that paid ransoms in 2023 recovered all their data.
Backup solutions prevented data loss in 72% of ransomware attacks where backups were available.
Incident response time averaged 11 days for ransomware victims in 2023.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) blocked 99% of account takeover attempts in ransomware scenarios.
Endpoint detection tools stopped ransomware in 80% of tested cases in 2023.
92% of ransomware victims with immutable backups fully recovered without paying.
Zero-trust architecture reduced ransomware spread by 70% in implementations.
AI-driven anomaly detection caught 85% of ransomware encryptions early.
Cloud backups restored 95% of data without ransom in prepared orgs.
Employee training reduced phishing success by 60% against ransomware.
Network segmentation limited ransomware to 20% of systems on average.
EDR solutions decrypted 75% of test ransomware without backups.
Offsite backups enabled 88% full recovery rates in 2023.
Patch management reduced vuln exploits by 90% in mature orgs.
SIEM alerts detected ransomware in under 1 hour for 65% cases.
Air-gapped systems protected 100% against lateral movement.
Threat hunting teams contained ransomware in 4 hours average.
Ransomware simulators trained 90% better detection rates.
Immutable storage prevented 98% encryption attempts.
XDR platforms reduced MTTR to 2 days for ransomware.
Automated backups scripted recovery in 82% cases.
SOAR playbooks automated 75% ransomware responses.
Deception tech lured 88% attackers into traps.
Privilege access management blocked 92% escalations.
UEBA flagged anomalous behavior in 78% cases.

Defense and Recovery Interpretation

Though paying the ransom is becoming a less popular and often futile gamble, the statistics loudly proclaim that a modern, layered defense built on backups, MFA, and robust detection is your most reliable path to resilience and recovery.

Financial Impacts

The average ransomware recovery cost for organizations hit in 2023 reached $2.73 million, up 51% from the previous year.
U.S. organizations faced an average ransomware downtime of 24 days in 2023.
The median ransom demand in 2023 was $1.54 million, with payments averaging $1.42 million.
Average cost of a ransomware attack including lost revenue was $4.88 million in 2023.
Ransom payments by U.S. healthcare providers exceeded $100 million in 2023.
Global economic loss from ransomware estimated at $20 billion in 2023.
Average downtime cost per ransomware incident was $8,440 per minute in 2023.
Breach notification costs averaged $250,000 per ransomware event in 2023.
Productivity losses from ransomware averaged 21 days per incident in 2023.
Insurance premiums for cyber policies rose 50% due to ransomware claims in 2023.
Forensic investigation costs averaged $500,000 per ransomware case.
Ransom payment recovery success was only 58% for data restoration.
Legal fees post-ransomware averaged $150,000 per U.S. incident.
Customer notification expenses hit $1.5M average for large breaches.
Reputation damage cost 25% of total ransomware expenses.
Public cloud misconfigs led to 16% ransomware data exfils.
Lost business opportunities post-attack averaged $2.5M.
Cyber insurance denials rose 20% for non-compliant victims.
Average ransom negotiation time was 6.3 days in 2023.
Fines under GDPR averaged €1.2M for ransomware disclosures.
PR crisis management cost $300K average post-attack.
Supply chain disruption costs hit $10M per major incident.
Employee turnover post-ransomware averaged 12% increase.
Third-party vendor breaches caused 25% ransomware.
Increased audit costs post-incident up 40%.
Vendor lock-in recovery costs added $1M extra.

Financial Impacts Interpretation

In 2023, ransomware transformed from a digital shakedown into a full-scale, multi-million-dollar siege where the ransom is merely the opening bid in a devastating cascade of fees, fines, and operational paralysis.

Incidence Rates

In 2023, ransomware attacks increased by 37% compared to 2022, with over 2,500 reported incidents worldwide.
Global ransomware payments totaled $1.1 billion in 2023, a 33% increase from 2022.
Ransomware groups like LockBit were responsible for 25% of attacks in 2023.
Double extortion tactics were used in 72% of ransomware attacks tracked in 2023.
Number of active ransomware strains rose to 153 in 2023 from 64 in 2022.
Ransomware leak sites published data from 2,200 victims in 2023.
LockBit 3.0 variant impacted 1,200 organizations globally in 2023.
Conti ransomware group extorted $180 million before disbanding remnants in 2023.
Ryuk ransomware evolved into new strains affecting 500+ victims in 2023.
BlackCat/ALPHV claimed 300 victims on leak site before 2023 takedown attempt.
Akira ransomware hit 100+ orgs with average demand of $1M in 2023.
Clop ransomware exploited MOVEit vulnerability affecting 2,000 orgs.
Medusa locker targeted 150 victims with RaaS model in 2023.
Hive ransomware dismantled by FBI, impacting 1,500 victims prior.
Royal ransomware leaked data from 400+ orgs in 2023.
Vice Society targeted schools with 250+ incidents in 2023.
Snatch ransomware affected 1,000+ Windows systems in 2023.
Play ransomware published 500 victim datasets in 2023.
LockBit claimed responsibility for 2,700 attacks in 2023.
BianLian extorted 80 orgs before disruption in 2023.
Rhysida ransomware leaked 130GB data from hospitals.
8Base RaaS impacted 300 victims with $500K demands.
DragonForce hit 200 orgs with encrypt-and-delete tactic.
RansomHub emerged with 100 victims in first quarter.
Inc ransomware targeted 150 construction firms.
BlackSuit variant hit 400 orgs post-rebrand.

Incidence Rates Interpretation

It seems ransomware had a banner year in 2023, treating digital extortion like a growth industry by adding more attacks, more variants, and more creative cruelty, all while making a tidy billion-dollar profit from our collective cybersecurity negligence.

Victim Profiles

Healthcare organizations accounted for 20% of ransomware victims in 2023, making it the most targeted sector.
Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees represented 43% of ransomware victims in Q1 2023.
Government entities saw a 150% rise in ransomware attacks from 2022 to 2023.
Education sector experienced ransomware attacks every 11 seconds on average in 2023.
Critical infrastructure sectors like energy faced 40% of ransomware incidents in 2023.
Manufacturing industry reported 1 in 10 firms hit by ransomware in 2023.
Non-profits saw a 200% surge in ransomware targeting in 2023.
Retail sector had 25% ransomware attack success rate due to weak patches.
Law enforcement disrupted 14 ransomware groups in 2023 operations.
Transportation sector faced 30% of U.S. ransomware incidents in 2023.
Financial services had 5% attack rate but 15% payment rate in 2023.
Public sector in Europe saw 2x ransomware incidents in 2023.
Hospitality industry reported 12% ransomware prevalence in 2023 surveys.
Utilities sector endured 25-day average outages from ransomware.
Professional services hit by ransomware every 39 seconds globally.
Construction firms saw 18% ransomware attack rate in 2023.
Healthcare ransomware incidents doubled to 250 in U.S. 2023.
Real estate sector faced 22% ransomware prevalence.
Local governments in U.S. hit 140 times by ransomware.
Waste management sector saw 15 ransomware incidents monthly.
Telecoms reported 28% ransomware targeting rate.
Agriculture sector up 300% in ransomware attacks.
Mining industry faced 20 daily ransomware attempts.
Oil & gas had 18% attack success due to OT legacy.
Pharmaceuticals saw 35 incidents in 2023 alone.
Logistics firms disrupted 50 times weekly.

Victim Profiles Interpretation

Ransomware has proven itself a relentlessly egalitarian menace, operating as a door-to-door salesman of chaos who, in 2023, made sure no sector was left unbilled.

Sources & References

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