- Chainalysis reveals that ransomware incidents increased by 50% in 2025 and extortion totaled approximately $820 million.
- The payment rate fell to 28%, from 62.8% in 2024 and 78.9% in 2022
- Median ransom payment jumped 368% to $59,556
Ransomware groups have never been more active, but also never extorted this little money, according to a new study.
Market analysts Chainalysis found that the number of ransomware incidents in 2025 increased by 50% compared to the previous year, netting criminals $820 million – although this figure could rise further as more incidents are attributed to ransomware attacks.
The increase in the number of successful attacks should automatically translate into higher payouts, but that didn’t happen – and in fact, Chainalysis claims that the number of payouts remained relatively stable, which, in absolute numbers, means that there were actually far fewer companies paying ransomware attackers.
That said, researchers estimate that the number of ransomware victims who actually paid has dropped to almost a quarter (28%). This means that for the fourth year in a row, companies are paying cybercriminals less and less.
In 2024, the payment rate was 62.8%, and a few years before that – in 2022 – it was 78.9%.
There are many reasons behind this trend, the researchers further explain, saying that better incident response and increased regulatory oversight have played a major role.
Then there are effective international actions against ransomware operators, infrastructure and money laundering, which have definitively limited “certain revenue shortfalls”. Finally, mistakes on the criminals’ side, such as VolkLocker’s weakness that allowed free decryption, relieved some of the pressure on victims.
But it seems that pirates don’t really want to work harder, so from those who pay, they demand more. Chainalysis reports that the median ransom payment increased by 368% year-over-year, from $12,738 in 2024 to $59,556 in 2025.
Despite the somewhat gloomy outlook, ransomware does not appear to be losing its popularity in the criminal world. The report states that there are currently 85 active extortion groups, many more than in previous years. Scammers were most active against American companies, but also against those in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
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