"LockBit Reigns Supreme in Soaring Ransomware Landscape"

According to security researchers at ReliaQuest, a hyper-active LockBit group led to a surge in ransomware campaigns in the last quarter of 2023.  The researchers found that ransomware activity was up 80% between October and December 2023 compared with the same period in 2022. Over this period, a total of 1262 victims were listed on data leak sites, with victims ranging from several industries, including manufacturing, construction, professional, scientific, and technical services.  LockBit was the most active threat group, with 275 victims listed on data leak sites over the studied period.  The researchers noted that this is more than twice as many victims claimed than the second most active group, Play, which claimed 110 victims on data leak sites in Q4 2023.  ALPHV/BlackCat came third with 102 victims claimed, NoEscape came fourth (76), and 8Base came fifth (75).  The researchers observed that LockBitSupp, the group’s public representative, had been consistently trying to recruit members of NoEscape and ALPHV, whose activity has been disrupted by law enforcement operations.  The NoEscape and Play ransomware groups seemed to have increased their activity during the last quarter of 2023.

Infosecurity Magazine reports: "LockBit Reigns Supreme in Soaring Ransomware Landscape"