Ransomware in critical infrastructure increases by 77%
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In 2023, ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure like hospitals and power plants skyrocketed, with over $1 billion paid to cybercriminals. Once considered safe, these industries are now prime targets. Our Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) reveals a staggering 77% global increase in these attacks compared to previous years.
Ransomware could be devastating for companies
According to the Swedish police’s national operational department, Noa, only 5% of ransomware attacks in Sweden are reported to the police.
– Ransomware can potentially be devastating to a business and therefore some companies choose to pay ransoms to free their locked data without the attack being noted in the statistics. Companies are afraid to show any weaknesses and many of them feel shame, concern about lost reputation, and have low faith in that the crimes will be solved”, says Joel Cedersjö, cyber security analyst at NTT Security.
New record levels for ransomware attacks
According to research firm Chainalysis, the number of payouts for ransomware attacks reached new record levels in 2023 – more than $1 billion was paid by affected companies to recover their data. Despite the fact that competition among cyber criminals has increased and that the police have found new ways to disrupt the criminals.
Worrying increase in attacks against critical infrastructure
The Global Threat Intelligence Report also reveals that more affected companies are part of critical infrastructure. Industries such as aviation, healthcare, and energy – previously not prime targets for cyber criminals – are now in the crosshairs.
The number of attacked organizations in the energy sector has however increased by 50% compared to 2022 and the healthcare industry reported twice as many affected businesses in 2023 compared to the year before, indicating that cyber criminals no longer consider these industries to be off-limits.
– Cyber criminals don’t avoid hospitals and other important functions in our society anymore, which is very worrying. This shift may be because criminals see these institutions as more likely to pay large ransoms because of the potentially life-threatening consequences a break in their system can lead to”, says Joel Cedersjö.
| Sector | 2022 | 2023 |
| Aviation | 38 | 62 |
| Healthcare | 151 | 322 |
| Energy | 187 | 278 |
| Water | 3 | 8 |
Download the Global Threat Intelligence Report 2024 report here.
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