Ransomware continues to be a nightmare for CFOs and IT teams across the world. In fact, ransomware attacks are only becoming more sophisticated and bypassing defenses, costing companies millions of dollars in extortion.

In the U.S., ransomware attacks increased by 149% year over year in the first five weeks of 2025, with 378 reported incidents (compared to 152 in 2024). Another report pointed to a surge in ransomware attacks in early 2025, with 92 disclosed incidents in January 2025 for a 21% year-over-year increase.

May 12, Anti-Ransomware Day, is often a reminder of the 2017 WannaCry outbreak. The ransomware campaign affected thousands of organizations worldwide, from hospitals in the UK to global logistics networks. And it’s only getting worse. Modern ransomware is more brutal, sneakier, and adaptive.

Checkpoint Research says that the geographic distribution of victims of ransomware attacks remained consistent throughout Q1 of 2025. The US continued to hold the top position, with nearly half of the reported victims. As such, most victims are from Western, developed countries with seemingly greater financial resources, which is why they may be more likely to pay ransoms.

Clearly, ransomware isn’t going anywhere. Let’s find out what the rest of the year has in store.

Ransomware in 2025: What Lies Ahead

According to Verizon, ransomware and data extortion made up 32% of reported attacks in May 2024. It also stated that no industry is immune, and a whopping 92% of them identified ransomware as a top threat. Not much seems to have changed in 2025.

New Threats and Gameplans

Some of the most active threats in 2024 involved ransomware groups such as LockBit 3.0, RansomHub, Akira, Play, and Hunters International. Their modus operandi involved using advanced extortion techniques like double and triple extortion. The use of affiliates and Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) models greatly enabled them to spread their operations swiftly.

Several top ransomware groups from 2024 continue to remain active in 2025. But it hasn’t stopped there. This year witnessed the emergence of new threat actors, like Meow, KillSec, DragonForce, and Cicada3301. These groups are reported to be more aggressive than their predecessors and are infamous for their novel tactics.

What makes them deadlier is that they’re more decentralized and, therefore, difficult to trace. Also, they often combine financially motivated attacks with ideological agendas. Many of them carry out their attacks in the name of hacktivism, where they target governments and large enterprises not just to extort money, but to make a political statement.

Why do we call their tactics novel? They work by leveraging multi-vector entry methods, which entails the use of zero-day exploits, cloud misconfiguration exploitation, and social engineering, all of which are driven by AI.

In fact, their attacks aren’t limited to basic encryption and data leakage. They are made deadlier with the inclusion of potential reputational threats, legal risks, and even synchronized disinformation operations.

So, is there a way out? Of course, being super vigilant is one thing, but as the ransomware landscape becomes more commoditized, even smaller threats feel equipped and motivated to launch increasingly dangerous attacks. It’s best that organizations prepare themselves for more devastating ransomware attacks.

AI That Makes but Also Breaks

While AI can be super helpful, it can also become a dangerous weapon if it falls into the wrong hands. Cybercriminals are now exploiting its omnipresence, which has made ransomware threats more distressing than ever before. We all know how convincing deepfake impersonations can be in misleading people. The same technology is now being used for carrying out more heinous cybercrimes.

New threat actors like FunkSec are now leveraging AI-powered ransomware payloads, which have significantly reduced the time and skill needed to launch attacks. They are also using AI to circumvent EDR (endpoint detection and response) systems and deactivate security software during invasions.

With a special emphasis on supply chain disruption, Check Point says, “AI-enhanced ransomware will enable criminals to scale faster, adapt quicker, and automate targeting across the supply chain. Organisations can expect 2–3 major supply chain ransomware attacks as we progress through the year, with AI playing a key role.”

OT Attacks on the Rise

Incidents where ransomware threat actors target and attack Operational Technology (OT) environments are expected to surge. What is OT and what makes it a target? It refers to systems that control physical processes in industries like manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and utilities. These systems are often built on legacy technologies and tools. Hence, they are ill-equipped when it comes to advanced security controls. Further, they are difficult to patch or take offline for maintenance. 

Cybercriminals know that once production lines, critical medical devices, or even the national infrastructure are taken down, victims would be willing to pay large sums of money to get them up pronto. Sometimes, power and internet outages can put human safety at risk, forcing governments to dole out millions of dollars, thereby incurring severe losses.

The immense vulnerability brought about by such attacks and the impending payout has bolstered the confidence of cyber attackers. As a result, the manufacturing and healthcare industries have witnessed a dramatic rise in ransomware attacks globally. 

Data Under Attack

Today, ransomware attackers are not just stealing data or locking files, they’re tampering with it. This type of attack involves corrupting, altering, or manipulating sensitive data before demanding a ransom.

For example, attackers will make minor changes to an organization’s financial information, its income statement, patient records, or even intellectual property. This is done to create an environment of doubt and misinformation throughout the organization, resulting in high levels of uncertainty and urgency.

It is obvious that these criminals are looking for more than just extorting money. The intention is to cause massive disruption, destroy trust, and sabotage important services.

This means taking backups for data restoration is no longer a viable solution, neither is it a reliable preventative measure. Organizations must now ensure that their restored data remains uncorrupted, so it can be trusted. Failure to do so can cripple sectors that rely on data accuracy, including healthcare, finance, law, and so on.

Hacktivists Take Charge

As mentioned, many ransomware groups out there are carrying out their disruptive activities to make a political/ideological statement. Many consider it a cyber war of sorts. Regardless of the label, it’s time to accept that ransomware has now made its way into the geopolitical landscape.

It isn’t uncommon to hear about nations and/or state-sponsored groups that back such attacks, especially from Russia and Iran. The weaponization of ransomware has become a tool of choice for triggering disruption, data fabrication, and destabilization.  

These groups, called “hacktivists,” typically claim responsibility for such attacks. Their usual targets include government agencies, defense contractors, media outlets, and even educational institutions.  

The fact that the cyberattacks carried out by these groups receive state-level support makes them particularly risky. They may exploit zero days, distort information to intensify the aftereffects of an attack, or carry out multiple attacks together. It is crucial for organizations to acknowledge that politically-motivated ransom attacks are a reality so they can start gathering threat intelligence accordingly.

Dealing with Ransomware Incidents

As you can see, ransomware will continue its reign of terror in the times to come. So, should victims pay the money to ransomware threat actors and move on? The answer may not be as simple as you’d think.

Paying the ransom may sort you out for now, but it isn’t a long-term solution. In fact, it only deepens the problem.

The actual fix to such attacks can come from focusing on recovery or a response plan that’s been prepared in advance to identify and thwart ransomware attacks. Acting swiftly while the ransomware has not yet affected the entire network can improve your chances of a quick recovery.

It is crucial that organizations implement carefully-formulated plans should they become victims. Working with an experienced provider of cybersecurity services that specializes in preventing ransomware attacks can help.

Emphasizing the need for isolating hosts and subnets, restricting remote and VPN access, disabling accounts (including the administrative ones), and transitioning to backup accounts are important steps.

Further, storing backups in an isolated system where they cannot be accessed and tampered with can solidify cyber defense strategies.

Conclusion

In 2025, the threat of ransomware has come a long way since its 2017 WannaCry days. Now, it doesn’t stop at encrypting files and demanding a hefty ransom. It has become more about data theft, reputational damage, disruption and destabilization, and political agendas.

The fact is, ransomware is not going anywhere, but only getting stronger with every passing year. The answer lies in improving business resilience. CFOs and IT teams must take cybersecurity preparedness more seriously than ever before. Thinking of a potential attack in terms of “when” rather than “if” is key to staying alert and prepared.

Rather than handing easy wins to cybercriminals, organizational leaders should do what’s necessary to put robust network security measures in place and take back control. It’s the only and ultimate safeguard!