Insights

Security and engineering teams reviewing software behavior insights to make pre-execution authorization decisions under a Zero Trust for Code model

Ransomware-as-a-Service: How Automation Is Fueling Malware’s Next Wave

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Ransomware is no longer the work of elite, highly skilled hackers operating in the shadows. With the rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), the barrier to entry for launching devastating cyberattacks has dropped dramatically. By automating ransomware deployment and selling ready-made attack kits, RaaS platforms are enabling a new wave of attackers to profit—no coding experience required. The result? More frequent, more sophisticated, and more damaging ransomware campaigns than ever before.

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Abstract red code waves visualizing high-volume software execution flows and the need for pre-execution controls under a Zero Trust for Code model

How MSPs Can Turn Malware Analysis Into a High-Margin Profit Center

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  As cyber threats continue to grow in volume and complexity, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are facing both a challenge and an opportunity. Traditional IT services like infrastructure management and help desk support are becoming increasingly commoditized. Clients no longer just want someone to fix their network issues. They want a trusted security partner, someone who can help them stay ahead of ransomware, phishing campaigns, and emerging threats that are constantly evolving.

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Glowing red lock amid cascading code symbolizing Zero Trust for Code enforcing pre-execution control over hostile software execution

The Rise of Ransomware: How MSPs Can Lead the Charge in Cyber Defense

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Ransomware continues to evolve, and in 2024 and 2025, it has emerged as one of the most serious cybersecurity threats facing organizations worldwide. With increasingly sophisticated techniques and highly organized threat actors, ransomware is no longer a sporadic IT issue—it is a critical risk that affects entire enterprises across financial, operational, and regulatory dimensions.

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Security team monitoring real-time software execution data in a financial control room to identify risk and enforce execution control before code runs

Protecting the Financial Services Sector Against Ransomware

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Financial institutions, including banks and stock brokerage firms, are prime targets of ransomware due to the critical nature of their operations and the high value of their data. 65% of financial services organizations were hit by ransomware in 2024 according to Sophos. The consequences of a successful ransomware attack can be devastating, both financially and reputationally.

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Hospital impacted by a cyber incident with financial loss visuals, illustrating how uncontrolled software execution drives costly recovery outcomes in healthcare environments

$1,270,000: Why Hospitals Pay Millions to Recover From a Cyberattack | The Real Cost of Recovering From a Ransomware Attack

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The Real Cost of Recovering From a Ransomware Attack

In a world where escalating ransomware threats make daily headlines, the stakes for hospitals are excruciatingly high. Losing money is one thing — losing a patient is another. A hospital CISO doesn’t have the luxury of negotiating with cybercriminals when patients’ lives are on the line.  

Paying the ransom itself comes with a hefty price tag — but remediation costs, including the cost of downtime, lost opportunities, data recovery, lawsuits, and loss of reputation, increase the bill tenfold. And it all adds up to an average of $1,270,000.

Hospitals Are at the Center of the Escalating Cyber Storm

The pandemic offered a perfect storm for cybercriminals — and hospitals paid the price. Cybercriminals brought in staggering amounts of cash by installing ransomware at overstretched hospitals, notoriously unprepared for escalating cybersecurity threats. Now, cyber gangs like FIN12 intentionally target vulnerabilities in the healthcare sector, looking for an easy payday. The increased risk to patients’ lives incentivizes hospitals to pay up, and cybercriminals know it.

When cybercriminals shut down networks, encrypt data, and threaten to shut down the facility’s utilities, the repercussions are complicated and costly. Precious commodities like patient information and lifesaving equipment are at risk. And when ransomware infiltrates a hospital’s lifesaving systems, there are no clear instructions for recovery. Even hardliner authorities (“We don’t negotiate with terrorists!”) recommend meeting ransom demands to save patients’ lives.

The Hidden Costs of Ransomware Attacks at Hospitals

The ransom paid — an average of $131,000 in the healthcare sector — is just a fraction of the $1,270,000 average recovery cost from a ransomware attack. Operational downtime, negative patient experience, loss of reputation, staff overtime, device costs, and network repairs make up the difference. Even if the attack is swift and the criminals withdraw quickly after paying the ransom, lost revenue adds up. NEO Urology in Ohio lost $30,000 to $50,000 every day for three days after paying a $75,000 ransom.

A worrying 54% of IT teams said that cyberattacks are too advanced to handle on their own. Outside agencies are often brought in to assist with data and device recovery (which can take years). When all is said and done, the bill can cost more than the ransom. It costs up to $2,000 on average to recover data from one hard drive. Consider how many hard drives are in a single hospital and what it would cost to bring them all back up to speed. Okay, you can spare yourself the mental math: It’s a lot. Don’t even try to think about the other, more complex medical devices similarly affected by network attacks — you’ll get a headache.

Payroll and education costs also add up. With networks offline, hospital staff must make handwritten records to maintain protocols, procedures, and schedules. Once systems are back online, those same records must be transcribed into the system to avoid leaving gaps in the facility’s history. These tedious tasks add a surprising amount of time to any healthcare worker’s shift, resulting in overtime and hazard pay. And let’s not forget the resources needed to train staff about cybersecurity best practices to avoid another attack.

$1,270,000 is a hefty price tag, but even so, it fails to include the costs of legal repercussions associated with a successful cyberattack.

Quality Rep Services, Inc. (QRS), a healthcare technology vendor in Knoxville, Tennessee, is facing a class action lawsuit for a data breach of 319,778 records. On the internal side of things, Community Medical Center (CMC) in Missoula, Montana, flirted with employee lawsuit material over payroll discrepancies. CMC suffered a cyberattack in late 2021, which affected payroll processing. In the interim, the medical center duplicated paychecks from December 3, 2021, prompting a letter from the Montana Nurses Association (MNA) urging CMC to pay nurses what they are owed.

Minimize Damage and Keep Your Data Safe

Until cyberattacks let up (which is more likely than seeing the dead rise from the grave but less likely than seeing a good Matrix sequel), these expenses aren’t going down. Remember, the best defense is not preventing attacks (they’re going to happen!), but preventing successful attacks by keeping backups of your important data secured off-network and minimizing the effects on patients. The less damage done, the less recovery is needed.

Hooded figure viewing lines of code on a screen with a city backdrop, symbolizing the risk of unauthorized software execution across connected urban environments

11 Wild Ransomware Attack Statistics for 2022

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Hoping for a better 2022? Back up your data.

After a chaotic and surreal couple of years, 2022 is already stretching our collective limit. The system is once again buckling under the weight of the pandemic, businesses are pivoting (or shuttering) in response to new challenges, political turmoil continues around the world — and ransomware is now a national security threat.

Organized cyber gangs continue to ruthlessly attack enterprise organizations, from government and financial institutions to critical infrastructures such as transportation and hospitals. Ransomware-focused threat actors like FIN12 are using the healthcare industry for target practice — taking advantage of known vulnerabilities — and becoming more efficient and nimble with their methods by the day. And ransom demands are soaring to record levels.

2021 was the “Year of Ransomware,” and the projections for 2022 are even more harrowing. Cybersecurity pundits will have to get creative when they name 2022: We expect the declaration of the “Year of Ransomware” to become as redundant as the “Year of Cybersecurity.”

Ransomware Attack Statistics for 2022

1. Ransomware is the fastest-growing cybercrime.

A report by Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that an organization will be attacked by ransomware every 11 seconds.

2. Ransomware and extortion attacks bring in a level of profit that matches the budgets of nation-state attack organizations.

And that’s only the publicly reported earnings. Consider that an estimated 75% of ransomware attacks go unreported and you’ll begin to grasp how lucrative “ransomware as a service” (RaaS) has become.

3. Ransomware costs are projected to rise 1225% in less than ten years.

Annual damages from ransomware are projected to rise 1225% by 2031, up to $265 billion per year.

4. REvil broke the record for ransomware demands with a $70 million price tag.

The previous record occurred just four months prior at $50 million.

5. The average ransom paid by mid-sized organizations was $107,404.

And that number will only increase, especially with the growing prevalence of double extortion.

6. The average ransom paid by healthcare organizations in 2021 was $131,000.

Considering what’s at stake for a healthcare facility — lifesaving machinery, confidential patient information, and lives (people died from malware in 2021) — it’s no surprise that the ransom payouts are higher in healthcare than other industries. Regardless of payout, victims’ data was leaked in at least 72% of the incidents (an additional 15% didn’t know if data was compromised).

7. The average cost of recovery from ransomware across all industries is $1.85 million.

The average cost of a ransomware attack is $1.85 million when you consider factors like downtime, lost business, and damaged reputation in addition to the ransom paid.

8. Larger organizations reported more ransomware attacks.

Almost half (42%) of companies with 1,001-5,000 employees were hit by ransomware in 2021 — compared to 33% of smaller companies.

9. Almost a third of organizations attacked by ransomware paid the ransom.

It might seem easier to quietly pay off cybercriminals rather than deal with an embarrassing public fallout and sky-high fines — but it’s a spectacularly bad idea. Instead, follow protocol and alert the authorities immediately.

Read More: Call the Feds! What Bank CISOs Need to Do After a Data Breach

10. A staggering 43% of organizations in the energy, oil, gas, and utilities sectors reported making ransom payments.

42% of local governmental organizations, 35% of organizations in the education sector, and 34% of healthcare organizations also reported meeting the ransom demands.

11. On average, just 65% of a victim’s data is restored after payment.

It’s just one of many reasons why the FBI advises against paying ransoms. Read More: Should Hospitals Pay Off Cyber Terrorists? What to do after a ransomware attack.

Don’t become another ransomware statistic in 2022.

Change and adapt to the new cybersecurity landscape because things will only get more challenging as cybercriminals hone their skills and tactics. Regularly back up your data — it’s expected in today’s cyber minefield. Educate yourself and your employees about the latest threats, and review your defenses against escalating attacks. Don’t settle for anything less than the utmost vigilance and cutting-edge cybersecurity protocols.