Brandefense identified a staggering 903 ransomware incidents in Q3-Q4/2022 across the deep and dark web. They collected valuable details such as targeted organizations, countries impacted, data stolen during attacks and demanded ransom payouts – all of which is compiled into this comprehensive retrospective report on cybercrime activity around the world.

Key Insights

Ransomware has been steadily on the rise for the last quarter
The fourth quarter of 2022 saw a 33% increase in ransomware attacks compared to Q3, with the total number of attacks more than double that from Q3.

Costly damages in millions and reputation at risk
Financial losses exceeded 482 million dollars. Moral damage included slowed business development processes, unusable information if a company did not pay a ransom and tarnished reputation due to publicly published sensitive customer information.

Manufacturing: 151% spike in cyberattacks
The manufacturing sector has seen an astronomical increase of 151% in the last quarter compared with other industries making it now the most attacked industry.

New King RISING !
Lockbit, a ransomware group, launched a bug bounty program in June 2022, where they awarded those who found vulnerabilities in their encryption software. Interestingly, the first recipient was an insider from a cybersecurity company, highlighting that threats can come from unexpected places.