Delinea Research Reveals that Ransomware Is Back on the Rise As Cybercriminals' Motivation Shifts to Data Exfiltration

Delinea’s State of Ransomware 2024 report, based on a survey of 300+ US IT and security decision-makers, finds ransomware incidents rebounding (53% victimized, with mid-sized firms most targeted) and ransom payments increasing, while attacker strategies shift toward stealthy data exfiltration and away from traditional email vectors to cloud and compromised applications. Despite more organizations budgeting for ransomware and rising executive concern, respondents show uncertainty about how increased spending improves security; Delinea advocates a layered defense with strong privileged access management to mitigate unauthorized access.