Ransomware is a malicious software strain that locks a victim out of their digital files, databases, or entire operating systems, demanding a financial payment to restore access. Modern attacks have evolved past simple data encryption; threat actors now systematically steal proprietary records first, threatening public leaks or direct client harassment to maximize financial leverage.

How do you detect ransomware attacks?

Ransomware can be detected by identifying the malicious behaviors that occur before and during an attack, including unauthorized encryption activity, credential theft, network reconnaissance, suspicious administrative actions, and other indicators of compromise. Modern cybersecurity solutions use behavioral analysis, threat detection, and human-led investigation to identify and stop ransomware attacks before they can encrypt data. The most effective forms of human-led investigation include proactive threat hunting and 24/7 monitoring of suspicious signals and alerts.

How do you prevent ransomware attacks?

Organizations should strengthen identity security, secure email systems, deploy advanced endpoint protection, monitor for threats, keep systems patched, train users to recognize phishing attempts, and maintain tested backups. Because no single control can prevent every attack, effective ransomware prevention requires multiple layers of defense working together. It is impossible to prevent or stop cybercriminals from using ransomware because criminal organizations can attack a business network anytime, anywhere. Organizations must focus on having a ransomware mitigation plan in place to prepare for the inevitable.

How does Sophos defend against ransomware?

Sophos delivers an AI-native cybersecurity defense system designed to disrupt ransomware actors at every phase of the attack chain. To defend your hardware endpoints from malicious processes, Sophos Endpoint uses advanced deep learning models and behavioral monitoring to recognize and stop zero-day file encryption automatically. To prevent threat actors from probing edge perimeters or exploiting unpatched remote access tools, Sophos Firewall provides deep packet inspection and integrated web filtering. These real-time telemetry streams feed directly into Sophos MDR , where a global team of 24/7 AI agents and human threat hunters isolates compromised accounts and blocks lateral movement before encryption begins. If an active breach occurs, Sophos DFIR provides emergency support to eject adversaries from your infrastructure instantly.

The State of Ransomware 2026

How ransomware attacks start, what happens when they succeed, and what recovery really costs.

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56%

of attacks succeeded in encrypting data

Only 1 in 3

smaller organizations stopped the attack before encryption

$769K

median ransom payment

$1.7M

average recovery cost

Seven years of ransomware data

The 2026 State of Ransomware report is the seventh edition of our independent, vendor-agnostic survey on ransomware attacks. Answers were gathered from January to March of 2026 and are based on respondents’ experiences from the previous 12 months.

The 2,158 survey participants consisted of IT and cybersecurity directors, senior managers, board members, and executives from 17 countries and a wide range of industries across public and private sectors. They come from organization sizes between 100 and 5,000 employees, and those sizes have remained proportionally consistent over the survey’s seven-year history.

New research in this report:

Where ransomware attacks start in various IT environments.
Multi-factor authentication methods enabled during ransomware attacks.
The role of firewalls in ransomware attacks.
The link between identity attacks and ransomware.

How do your ransomware experiences compare?

Get fresh, real-world fresh insights into the prevalence, impact, reach, and cost of the attacks.

Current encryption and data theft success rates.
Operational root causes and human impact.
Ransomware demands vs. payments.
How company size impacts organizations’ experiences of ransomware.
Economic sector trends relating to ransomware attacks.
Recovery costs and time.

Key insights

Why organizations get hit

Which technical and operational factors leave organizations exposed and how do they vary by company size?

What happens to the data

How has the data encryption rate and data theft success rate changed year over year?

Ransom negotiations

In what ways do most ransom payments differ from the amount initially demanded?

The cost of ransomware

How much have recovery costs changed year over year?

Human impact

How does a ransomware attack affect IT and cybersecurity teams.

Defense strategies

Get key recommendations that will help you stay ahead of ransomware attacks.

Optimize your ransomware defense strategy

Discover what’s happening on the front line and use the insights to enhance your defenses.

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Download individual State of Ransomware reports for each of the 17 countries surveyed

Australia ( EN )

Colombia ( EN )

India ( EN )

Mexico ( EN )

Spain ( EN )

UK ( EN )

Brazil ( EN )

France ( EN )

Italy ( EN )

Singapore ( EN )

Switzerland ( EN )

United States ( EN )

Chile ( EN )

Germany ( EN )

Japan ( JA | EN )

South Africa ( EN )

UAE ( EN )

Frequently asked questions

Ransomware is a malicious software strain that locks a victim out of their digital files, databases, or entire operating systems, demanding a financial payment to restore access. Modern attacks have evolved past simple data encryption; threat actors now systematically steal proprietary records first, threatening public leaks or direct client harassment to maximize financial leverage.
Ransomware can be detected by identifying the malicious behaviors that occur before and during an attack, including unauthorized encryption activity, credential theft, network reconnaissance, suspicious administrative actions, and other indicators of compromise. Modern cybersecurity solutions use behavioral analysis, threat detection, and human-led investigation to identify and stop ransomware attacks before they can encrypt data.

The most effective forms of human-led investigation include proactive threat hunting and 24/7 monitoring of suspicious signals and alerts.
Organizations should strengthen identity security, secure email systems, deploy advanced endpoint protection, monitor for threats, keep systems patched, train users to recognize phishing attempts, and maintain tested backups. Because no single control can prevent every attack, effective ransomware prevention requires multiple layers of defense working together. It is impossible to prevent or stop cybercriminals from using ransomware because criminal organizations can attack a business network anytime, anywhere. Organizations must focus on having a ransomware mitigation plan in place to prepare for the inevitable.
Sophos delivers an AI-native cybersecurity defense system designed to disrupt ransomware actors at every phase of the attack chain. To defend your hardware endpoints from malicious processes, Sophos Endpoint uses advanced deep learning models and behavioral monitoring to recognize and stop zero-day file encryption automatically. To prevent threat actors from probing edge perimeters or exploiting unpatched remote access tools, Sophos Firewall provides deep packet inspection and integrated web filtering. These real-time telemetry streams feed directly into Sophos MDR, where a global team of 24/7 AI agents and human threat hunters isolates compromised accounts and blocks lateral movement before encryption begins. If an active breach occurs, Sophos DFIR provides emergency support to eject adversaries from your infrastructure instantly.