November sees 29% surge in ransomware attack victims

December 19, 2023 – Published on SecurityBrief

November 2023 experienced an increase in the number of victims of ransomware attacks, as compared to the quieter month of October. The number of victims increased by 29% month-over-month, climbing from 336 in October to 433 in November. However, the November’s numbers were only 16% higher than the average for the calendar year 2023, and just 6% higher than the average since the beginning of March, showing a sustained pace of operations. Interestingly, the number of active ransomware groups saw a marginal drop, and the prolific established ransomware entities — LockBit, Alphv, and Play — remained the primary contributors towards the total number of ransomware victims. In fact, 82% of the victims were targeted by ransomware groups that had been operational for at least six months.

The crowd-sourced threat data collected by GRIT has helped categorise ransomware groups into Emerging, Ephemeral, Developing, Splinter, Rebrand and Established, offering more detailed insights into their progression and modifications in operational strategies. As the end of the year approaches, a continuation or increase in operations is expected, with ransomware groups likely to capitalise on opportunities to exploit undiscovered vulnerabilities or unattended defensive systems over the holiday period.

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