Cyber security researchers at Comparitech have identified a significant reduction in confirmed ransomware attacks in the first quarter of 2024.
Comparitech logged 142 successful ransomware attacks affecting 17.6 million records in the first quarter of 2024, a significant decrease from the 336 successful attacks logged during the same period of 2023.
The trend is consistent across all industries except finance, where the number of affected records rose from 14.74 million in Q1 2023 to 16.96 million in 2024. The vast majority of the 2024 records were compromised in the LoanDepot breach, in which the company refused to pay a $6 million ransom to ALPHV/BlackCat. That decision is projected to cost the company between $12 million and $17 million.
The breakdown of the 142 attacks so far this year is as follows:
- 72 attacks on businesses, affecting 17,289,205 records
- 14 attacks on education, affecting 8,797 records
- 36 attacks on government agencies, affecting 48,949 records (higher than the 10,592 breached in Q1 2023)
- 20 attacks on hospitals and healthcare, affecting 300,000 records.
The average ransom demand across all industries was $1.88 million.
