Check Point Research: Ransomware Attacks Per Organization Hit All-Time Peak in Q2

The latest Check Point Research data shows ransomware attacks impacted one out of 40 organizations each week globally during the second quarter of 2022.

That’s a 59% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks. Average weekly attacks per organization globally reached a peak of 1,200  attacks, a 32% increase year-over-year. That represents an all-time peak.

No Signs of Slowing Down

Omer Dembinsky is data group manager at Check Point Software Technologies.

Check Point’s Omer Dembinsky

“Ransomware attacks are showing no signs of slowing down,” he said. “Hackers are leveraging the increase in attack surface from remote work and learning. And the war between Ukraine and Russia also helps drive the proliferating trend, as geopolitical tensions rising inspires hackers to take sides. Lastly, the willingness of organizations to meet ransomware demands in order to protect patients has proved the business of ransomware to be highly lucrative. Hence, we see that hackers are continuing to invest resources in going after health care organizations. We strongly recommend organizations everywhere to take note of our ransomware prevention tips, such as backing up data, keeping systems up to date and training employees on awareness.”

Check Point Research also shared general cyberattack trends. The top three most targeted industries for ransomware are government/military, education/research and health care. And Africa saw the highest volume of attacks peaking at 1,700 attacks on average per organization.

May marked the fifth anniversary of the infamous WannaCry attack, and it seems ransomware has completely changed the threat landscape. It has evolved to be a weapon in the hands of attack groups threatening governments. Check Point Research recently coined the term “country extortion.” It did so after observing how ransomware expanded its business borders to now include the government sector.

Scroll through our slideshow above for more from Check Point Research on second-quarter ransomware activity.