INFOGRAPHIC
Bitdefender reveals grim milestone in ransomware history
In the latest Bitdefender Threat Debrief February is revealed as a grim milestone in ransomware history: with a staggering 126 % increase of claimed victims year-over-year, jumping from 425 victims in February 2024 to 962 in February 2025. This is the single worst month in ransomware history based on the total number of claimed victims. Of those 962 victims, a staggering 335 were claimed by the Clop( Cl0p) group. That’ s a 300 % jump from the previous month by this
RaaS( Ransomware-as-a-Service) group. It begs the question: what’ s behind this sudden spike?
The answer lies in a shift Bitdefender have been warning about since 2022 that is still catching many by surprise. Instead of focusing on specific companies or industries, some ransomware groups are becoming increasingly opportunistic by targeting newly discovered software vulnerabilities in edge network devices.
This is the single worst month in ransomware history based on the total number of claimed victims.
Cybercriminals, regardless of whether they’ re financially motivated or state-affiliated, focus on finding vulnerabilities that meet certain criteria:
• The vulnerabilities have high-risk scores( CVSS).
• The vulnerabilities allow attackers to remotely take control of a system( RCE).
• The vulnerabilities affect software that’ s accessible from the Internet.
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