Over 195 million records breached in ransomware attacks last year

In 2024, ransomware groups claimed responsibility for 5,461 successful ransomware attacks on organizations worldwide. Of these, 1,204 were confirmed by target organizations, according to the analysis Comparitech.

Of the 1,204 confirmed attacks, 195.4 million records were compromised. These 2024 numbers are lower than those recorded in 2023 (1,474 attacks affecting 261.5 million records), although they are expected to rise as reports often take months to arrive.

The total ransom paid for these attacks was $133.5 million. RansomHub was the most prolific gang (89 confirmed attacks), followed by LockBit (83), Medusa (62) and Play (57).

The three biggest breaches last year were Change Healthcare in the US, with approximately 100 million people affected by the February 2024 ALPHV/BlackCat breach. Change Healthcare also reportedly paid the gang $22 million only to have another gang (RansomHub) claim that ALPHV had forced out its affiliates. In second place, LoanDepot, also in the US, affected 16.9 million people, but the $6 million ransom demand was not paid. In phase three, MediSecure suffered the largest hack in Australian history, affecting 12.9 million people. MediSecure was attacked in May 2024. The attacker, Ansgar, claimed responsibility for the attack and put the stolen data up for sale for $50,000.

Health was the most vulnerable sector overall, with 181 confirmed attacks, followed by government with 179, industry with 142 and education with 116.

Looking to the future, Rebecca Moody, head of data science at Comparitech, says: “In 2024, it is highly likely that we will continue to see large-scale attacks that either cause widespread damage to companies or result in large amounts of data being stolen. Moreover, Clop’s recent Cleo exploit looks set to see a number of companies release violations in the coming months (the gang has threatened to release around 66 companies by the end of 2024).”

You can read more at Comparitech website.

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