New Horizon Communications (NHC) published recent data from partner Check Point Research, indicating that ransomware attacks grew by about 93 percent, year on year, with a 41 percent increase since January 2021 alone. Total number of ransomware strikes hit 1,210 as of June.
Geographically speaking, Latin America (62 percent) and Europe (59 percent) witnessed the largest number of instances. By sector, education (347 percent), transportation (186 percent), retail/wholesale (162 percent) and healthcare (159 percent) were the hardest hit for ransomware growth, year to year. The “Consultancy” domain saw a 126 percent increase in attacks since the beginning of 2021, followed by education/research (81 percent), transportation (80 percent) and government/military (75 percent).
Previous data from May noted a 21 percent increase in the first trimester of the year, with 102 percent growth in number of organizations affected, compared to the onset of 2020. Average ransomware attacks in May grew to 1,115.
More troublingly, Checkpoint indicated it believes the surge “has yet to reach its pinnacle.”
