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ZDNET's key takeaways
Ransomware payments have reached a historic low of 23%.
Dropping success rates could lead to more targeted attacks with higher payouts.
Large enterprises could have an increased risk of becoming targets.
Fewer and fewer companies are capitulating to ransomware payment demands, with success rates for this criminal industry reaching a historic low of 23%.
Also: Data-stealing cyberattacks are surging - 7 ways to protect yourself and your business
According to a Q4 2025 report published by Coveware, a cybersecurity firm that tracks the trends and movements of ransomware groups, ransomware payments made were at their highest -- in around 85% of attacks -- back in 2019. With the exception of a handful of quarterly spikes, the success rate of ransomware blackmail and extortion attempts has continued to drop.
For example, the researchers say that in Q1 2025, approximately 27% of victim organizations paid up. This dropped to 26% in Q2 and slid further to 23% in Q3 2025.
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