The Dangers of Double and Triple Extortion in Ransomware

The report describes a 2024 ransomware extortion trend illustrated by a Russian gang's attack on a UK pathology services provider that exfiltrated and released data from over 300 million patient interactions. It defines double and triple extortion (data theft plus encryption, plus additional pressure such as blackmail or secondary attacks), outlines impacts (reputational damage, regulatory fines, downstream attacks), cites prevalence and ransom statistics, and lists mitigations including backups, identity and access management, vulnerability management, and 24×7 monitoring.