Only a Fifth of Ransomware Attacks Now Encrypt Data

ReliaQuest’s 2024 Annual Cyber-Threat Report highlights that over 80% of ransomware operations now focus on data exfiltration without encryption, enabling faster attacks with breakout times observed between 27–48 minutes. The report stresses systemic weaknesses—including compromised and overprivileged service accounts, insufficient logging, attacker abuse of legitimate remote tools, and exploitation of public-facing applications—and recommends stronger monitoring/logging, comprehensive endpoint coverage, secure VPNs with MFA, prompt patching of internet-facing devices, vigilance against social engineering, and the use of automation and AI to reduce time to containment.