A new study from cybersecurity firm Coveware shows that the ransomware economy is changing. Despite the increase in attacks, average ransom amounts and the percentage of organizations paying extortion demands is expected to decrease in 2025.
In the third quarter, only 23% of victims paid any ransom. This compares to 28% in the first quarter of 2024. The average payment has also decreased significantly, from around $377,000 in the same period last year to around $140,000 this year.
Coveware writes that the development is driven by organizations becoming better at preventing and handling ransomware attacks, while authorities are increasingly pressuring them to refrain from paying the attackers.
