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Banner years are generally welcome, except when it comes to ransomware. New data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, finds that ransomware payments jumped 77%, or $1.1 billion, in 2023 year-over-year from 2022.
The FinCEN Financial Trend Analysis report also found that more than $2.1 billion in ransomware payments were made between 2022 and 2024. FinCEN pegs the median amount of a ransomware payment at $155,257 in 2024, up 25.1% from $124,097 in 2022, but down 12.7% from the 2023 peak of $175,000. FinCEN’s report is based on data from Bank Secrecy Act filings.
Other organizations also found that payouts have gone up, with one report, from cybersecurity firm ExtraHop Networks Inc., saying in October the average payout per attack in 2024 was $3.6 million. Its report is based on a survey of 1,800 executives across seven countries.
FinCEN says financial-services payouts in the 2022 through 2024 period totaled $365.6 million, followed by healthcare, $305.4 million, and manufacturing, $284.6 million. Manufacturing, however, had the most incidents at 456, followed by financial services at 432 and healthcare, 389.
Overall, ransomware payments totaled $2.1 billion in the three-year period and FinCEN received 7,395 reports related to 4,194 ransomware incidents. Cryptocurrency bitcoin accounted for 97% of reported ransomware payments, FinCEN says.
The FinCEN report also shows that law-enforcement activity targeting ransomware groups may have some impact. It says after the disruption of two such groups, the volume of ransomware incidents reported to it decreased to 1,476 in 2024 from 1,512 in 2023.
“By quickly reporting suspicious activity under the Bank Secrecy Act, [financial institutions] provide law enforcement with critical information to help detect cybersecurity trends that can damage our economy. This work is vital to safeguarding our nation’s financial sector and strengthening our national security,” FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki says in a statement.
