State of ransomware in 2026

Kaspersky’s 2026 ransomware landscape report describes a maturing, industrialized ransomware ecosystem where groups are adopting post‑quantum cryptography, encryptionless extortion (data‑leak driven), and sophisticated evasion techniques (EDR killers, BYOVD), while initial access brokers commoditize access (RDP, VPN, RDWeb). The report highlights dominant and emerging actors, law enforcement takedowns of dark‑web forums, substantial economic impact in sectors like manufacturing, and prescribes proactive defenses including patching, MFA/zero‑trust for remote access, advanced EDR, segmentation, tested offline backups, and phishing training.