Is the Ransomware Craze Finally Over? (Hint: Probably Not)

Even with ransomware making headlines last year, 2024 saw one of the most interesting trends yet: decreased payments. Last year alone, ransomware payments decreased by hundreds of millions of dollars, even with large-scale attacks and a massive $75 million payment by one victim. Progress? Well, maybe.

2024 Saw a Huge Decrease in Ransomware Payments

With major, record-breaking attacks against Change Healthcare, AT&T, Starbucks, Deloitte UK, and CDK Global, it’s easy to think that ransomware attacks were at their worst in 2024.

These attacks were only a handful compared to the 389 reported cases in 2024. Still, there’s hope in this situation; payments actually decreased in response to ransomware attacks, which is a promising trend. In 2023, payments totaled up to around $1.25 billion, whereas in 2024, that number sat at $814 million.

Despite this 35 percent decrease, however, this is too much money to lose to scammers and thieves.

The Cause of This Decrease

Cybersecurity analysts point to an increase in international law enforcement agency collaboration and resilience of victims as the primary reasons for this decrease.

Initiatives and collaborations, including February 2024’s Operation Chronos, challenged the infamous LockBit ransomware gang. Following the seizure of this organization’s infrastructure and cryptocurrency access, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) noted a 79 percent decrease in the second half of 2024. It’s believed that this effort cut the head off the snake of the operation, so to speak, by key leadership and forcing the group to go underground.

But, of course, you cannot understate how important it is to not pay these criminals, either, as refusing to pay means there is no incentive for these attacks, making them less profitable to the hackers.

Ransomware Faces Many Challenges Moving Forward

2024 saw ransomware efforts decrease not just in general, but throughout the course of the year.

Out of the $814 million we mentioned earlier, slightly over half of that was collected from January to June ($492 million). The rest of it came during the second half of the year, $321 million. With a decline like this, the fate of ransomware looks promising, but we cannot rest on our laurels, either.

Past patterns have indicated that an uptick in ransomware is possible at any time, so you’ll need to be prepared when it does make its return.

We’ll Help You Get Ready

If your team needs assistance with cybersecurity education or implementing new security solutions, we can help. Learn more by calling us today at (717) 620-3042.