Ransomware activity increased in 2023 compared to 2022, according to Google-owned Mandiant.
This is despite broadscale law enforcement operations against prominent ransomware groups, including ALPHV/BlackCat.
Mandiant shared ransomware research findings in a new report published on June 3, 2024.
The threat intelligence firm observed a 75% increase in posts on ransomware groups' data leak sites in 2023 compared to 2022.
In total, victims on DLS spanned more than 110 countries.
These observations are consistent with other reporting, including a Chainalysis report showing that over $1bn was paid to ransomware attackers in 2023 - a record.
Although two of the most established ransomware families, ALPHV/BlackCat and LockBit, were the most frequently observed in 2023, Mandiant also noticed an increased diversification of the ransomware landscape, with 50 new ransomware variants.
This is approximately the same number as in 2021 and 2022.
The proportion of new variants compared to families increased, with around one-third of new families observed in 2023 being variants of previously identified ransomware families.
Finally, Mandiant found that threat actors increased their reliance on remote management tools in ransomware operations.
These tools were used during approximately 41% of intrusions in 2023 compared to 23% of intrusions in 2022.
This Cyber News was published on www.infosecurity-magazine.com. Publication date: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 19:14:03 +0000