Ransomware and data theft attempts accounted for nearly 30 percent of all Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) tracked incidents (in which malicious activity of any sort was detected) for small and midsized businesses.

Use of remote ransomware increased 141 percent since 2022.

The use of remote ransomware increased 50 percent in 2024 over last year, and 141 percent since 2022.

Most active STAC campaigns tracked by Sophos MDR in 2024 were ransomware-related.

Use of remote ransomware increased 50 percent in 2024 over last year.

The average response time to ransomware attacks is 6.71 hours among financial institutions. Last year's average response time to ransomware attacks was 6.62 hours.

54% of ransom-paying victims recovered their data—down from 73% two years ago.

Only 41% of victimised organisations chose to pay in 2024—down from 63% three years ago.

The average ransom paid dropped 33% in 2024 to $501,388, down from $747,651 in 2023.

Ransomware deployment occurs in as little as six hours

Only half of organisations that pay ransoms actually recover their data.

Successful ransomware attacks have declined from a peak of 73% two years ago to 63% this year.

The health care sector had the highest average ransom paid of any industry, at $847,875.

The average ransom demand was $957K, and the average ransom paid was $317K. This means the price was often negotiated down by more than half.

Ransomware attacks increased by nearly 20% in 2024.

Geographically, 59% of observed ransomware victims in Q1 2025 were based in The United States, which is the highest proportion seen to date.

Only 31% of ransoms were paid by At-Bay customers in 2024. This totaled $146M in unpaid ransoms.

Severity of ransomware attacks was up 13% in 2024.

The industries most heavily impacted by ransomware in Q1 2025 were manufacturing, retail, and technology. Notably, the non-profit sector saw a dramatic surge in ransomware attacks, with incidents doubling quarter-over-quarter .

There was also a record high number of active threat groups, with 70 identified in Q1 2025. This is a 55.5% year-over-year rise.