Ransom Demands Surge 47%
Initial ransom demands from cyberattacks surged 47% over the past year, according to a new report from Coalition. Despite the higher demands, most businesses are refusing to pay. Business email compromise and funds transfer fraud remain the most common forms of attack.
While initial ransom demands are soaring, the actual payment rate by victims has plummeted to a record low of 28% in 2025, a significant drop from 62.8% in 2024 and 78.9% in 2022. This growing refusal to pay is attributed to companies developing better incident response plans and maintaining more resilient data backups. Despite the lower payment rate, ransomware remains the most expensive category of cyber claim, with an average loss of $269,000 per incident in 2025. A prevalent tactic is "dual extortion," where attackers both encrypt and exfiltrate data, which accounted for 70% of all ransomware claims last year. Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Funds Transfer Fraud (FTF) collectively represent the majority of cyber incidents, accounting for 58% of all events. BEC attacks, which often serve as a gateway to more significant financial fraud, saw their frequency increase by 15% in 2025. The manufacturing sector has become the primary target for ransomware attacks, experiencing a 56% increase in incidents from 2024 to 2025. Average ransom demands in this sector more than doubled to $1.16 million. The legal services industry also saw a significant 54% jump in attacks. Even with fewer victims paying, the median ransom payment size has surged, indicating that attackers are focusing on higher-value targets. The median payment increased by 368% in 2025, rising from $12,738 to $59,556. Globally, the total number of ransomware attacks saw a significant uptick in 2025, with 7,419 incidents reported, a 32% increase from the 5,631 attacks recorded in 2024. Businesses were the main target, accounting for 6,292 of these attacks. While the frequency of overall cyber claims rose by 3% in 2025, the average severity of these claims actually decreased by 19% to an average loss of $116,000. For claims that were closed in 2025, 64% were resolved with no out-of-pocket loss for the policyholder, often due to cyber insurance support.
