The Percentage of Organizations Globally Struck by Ransomware Hits an All-Time High

Stu Sjouwerman | Jan 30, 2024

Ransomware Attacks TargetingCheck Point’s review of ransomware shows that the percent of organizations worldwide hit by this greatest of cyberthreats rose by a whopping 33% in 2023.

In 2022, 1 in 13 organizations globally had been the victim of a ransomware attack.  According to the latest Check Point Research, that ratio worsened to just 1 in 10 in 2023. That represents 60,000 attempted attacks per organization throughout the year.

The highest percentage of organizations that experienced ransomware was in the Asia-Pacific region, reaching 11%. But it’s organizations in the Americas region that jumped from 5% in 2022 to 9% in 2023 – an increase of 80% in just one year.

The top industries targeted were education/research (with 22% of organizations experiencing ransomware attacks), government/military (16%) and healthcare (12%).

Check Point recommends the following precautions:

  • Robust (and secure) backups
  • Up-to-date patching
  • Strong user authentication
  • Anti-ransomware protection
  • Threat prevention
  • And, my personal favorite, security awareness training

KnowBe4 enables your workforce to make smarter security decisions every day. Over 65,000 organizations worldwide trust the KnowBe4 platform to strengthen their security culture and reduce human risk.

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