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Ransomware Gangs Escalate Extortion With Physical Violence and Regulatory Threats

Nearly half of recent attacks feature threats of violence against executives or regulatory filings under stricter SEC reporting rules.

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Overview

  • Seventy-eight percent of organizations were targeted by ransomware in the past year, with 56 percent of those incursions resulting in successful encryption.
  • Physical harm threats against executives appeared in 40 percent of cases globally and in 46 percent of incidents involving US firms.
  • Threats to file regulatory complaints surfaced in 47 percent of attacks worldwide and in 58 percent of US-based cases exploiting tightened disclosure requirements.
  • Sixty-nine percent of global victims and 81 percent of US victims paid ransom demands despite growing investment in cyber resilience.
  • Fifteen percent of paying organizations received no usable decryption keys or corrupted keys and 73 percent of victims endured repeat attacks, including 31 percent hit three or more times.