COMMENTARY: Ransomware remains one of the most prevalent and destructive cyber threats — and it’s only becoming more relentless. In fact, recent research confirms 2024 set a grim new record, with 5,263 reported ransomware incidents -- the highest annual volume since 2021. And that’s just the attacks we know about.
Many organizations, fearing reputational damage or regulatory scrutiny, choose not to report ransomware incidents. But even without an exact count, the data leaves no doubt: ransomware has become an escalating crisis with far-reaching business, economic, and societal implications.
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Compounding this challenge, ransomware isn’t just maintaining its steady drumbeat. It’s evolved into a more dangerous, sophisticated and widespread threat. Organizations must prepare for the next generation of attacks, which extend far beyond simple data encryption. Here are three critical ransomware trends shaping the future of cyber threats:
- Triple-extortion attacks: What started as simple data encryption evolved into double extortion, where attackers locked files, and then also threatened to leak sensitive data. Now, a third layer of extortion has taken hold: targeted personal blackmail. Attackers analyze stolen data to identify high-profile individuals for direct extortion. For example, after breaching a university’s systems, attackers may sift through student records to find a victim whose parent is a corporate executive or public figure and demand direct ransom payments in exchange for their privacy.
- Critical systems under siege: Cybercriminals are no longer solely after data. They disrupt essential operations. Increasingly, ransomware attacks target essential infrastructure, including hospitals, power grids, financial institutions, and transportation networks. Instead of simply encrypting files, hackers can shut down emergency services, disable industrial controls, or manipulate financial transactions. These attacks don’t just result in financial loss — they have the potential to endanger lives, cripple national security and cause widespread societal disruption.
- Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): The barrier-to-entry for cybercriminals has never been lower. RaaS operators now develop and sell ready-made ransomware kits to buyers, many of whom have little-to-no technical expertise. With these plug-and-play tools, nearly anyone can launch devastating ransomware campaigns, exponentially increasing the volume and frequency of ransomware incidents. This “franchise model” of cybercrime has transformed ransomware from an elite hacker tactic into a mainstream criminal enterprise.
Ransomware isn’t just persisting — it’s escalating in complexity, reach and impact, becoming a more insidious and relentless threat. To stay ahead, organizations must adopt a two-pronged strategy that emphasizes both prevention and resilience, ensuring they can thwart attacks before they happen and swiftly recover when they do.
Prevention best practices
Prevention stands as the first and most crucial line of defense, significantly reducing the likelihood of a successful attack. Since ransomware operators use many of the same tools, tactics and procedures (TTPs) as other cybercriminals, defending against ransomware follows core cybersecurity best practices, including the following:
- Practice vulnerability management and patching: Many ransomware groups exploit publicly-known vulnerabilities to gain initial access to networks. This makes proactive vulnerability management and timely patching critical. A strong program includes real-time asset discovery, continuous vulnerability scanning to detect exploitable weaknesses, automated patch deployment to secure systems before attackers can strike, and proactive remediation to address security gaps.
- Deploy endpoint protection tools: Endpoint devices such as laptops and mobile phones are prime targets for ransomware attacks. It’s essential to have a layered security approach. Effective endpoint protection integrates multiple technologies, including antivirus (AV) for traditional malware detection, endpoint detection and response (EDR) for real-time attack monitoring and exploit prevention tools to block advanced ransomware techniques. These technologies should work seamlessly together, blocking an attacker’s path before they can gain a foothold.
- Focus on network security: Network prevention lets security teams block intrusions before they reach critical systems. These tools monitor traffic, offer real-time visibility, detect threats, and recommend response actions. Their importance has grown as cybercriminals increasingly target environments where endpoint agents may not be deployable, such as cloud and operation technology (OT) infrastructure.
- Plan for human errors: The human factor can undermine even the strongest security technologies. People remain the weakest link in cybersecurity. Cybercriminals rely on phishing and social engineering tactics to bypass technical defenses. Organizations must invest in ongoing cybersecurity awareness trainings to help employees spot phishing attempts, simulated attack exercises to test employee responses, and strong access controls and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access.
A resilience strategy
Few organizations are immune to cyber threats, even with the best prevention technologies. Resilience requires preparation — having contingencies in place to minimize damage and ensure rapid recovery when an attack succeeds. When it comes to ransomware, two critical components of resilience stand out: incident response (IR) plans and data backups.
While it’s essential to develop a well-defined IR plan, merely having a plan isn’t enough. It must be actionable, tested, and continuously refined. This includes accounting for three phases in the IR lifecycle:
- Threat detection: It’s crucial to have early detection. The faster an attack gets identified, the sooner an organization can respond and enact its IR plan. Many ransomware prevention technologies double as detection tools, helping security teams catch ransomware before encryption begins.
- Response: While the response will vary depending on the attack’s nature and timing, every organization should follow these three fundamental steps: assess the impact of the attack and take steps to halt its spread; investigate the attack to understand its full scope and use forensic analysis to trace the intrusion path; remove ransomware from the environment to prevent reinfection.
- Recovery: Restoring operations should begin within hours of activating an IR plan. The fastest way to recover from ransomware is by rebuilding systems from verified, clean backups.
Secure backups: The foundation of ransomware recovery
Backups are an essential safety net, but not all backup strategies are equally effective. Attackers frequently target and encrypt accessible backups, rendering them useless if not properly secured. To ensure recoverability, organizations must do the following:
- Maintain multiple backup copies stored in different, physically separated locations.
- Segment backups from production systems to prevent ransomware spread.
- Require separate, unique credentials for accessing backups.
- Use offline and immutable backups that attackers cannot modify
Additionally, before restoring from backups, conduct a thorough validation to ensure data integrity and eliminate the risk of reinfection.
Ransomware has evolved into a more aggressive, far-reaching and devastating cyber threat. Organizations must shift from a reactive mindset to a proactive, multi-layered security strategy that prioritizes both prevention and resilience.
By hardening defenses, training employees, preparing IR plans and securing backup systems, organizations can significantly reduce their risk and ensure a faster, more effective recovery, minimizing downtime, financial loss and operational disruption.
James Turgal, vice president of global cyber risk and board relations, Optiv
SC Media Perspectives columns are written by a trusted community of SC Media cybersecurity subject matter experts. Each contribution has a goal of bringing a unique voice to important cybersecurity topics. Content strives to be of the highest quality, objective and non-commercial.
