Report by Proofpoint
2026 AI-Era Ransomware Report
Key Findings
28% of global organizations that experienced a ransomware attack report that AI significantly increases the attack's effectiveness.
37% of global organizations that experienced a ransomware attack report that AI somewhat increases the attack's effectiveness.
Only 9% of global organizations affected by ransomware report no evidence of AI use in the attack.
54% of organizations affected by ransomware pay a ransom.
37% of organizations that pay a ransom face a second extortion demand.
60% of US organizations confirm sensitive data theft during ransomware incidents.
40% of organizations say employees did not suspect the attack because it appeared authentic.
Credential harvesting is identified as the initial threat in 36% of ransomware incidents.
93% of US organizations affected by ransomware pay a ransom.
Phishing emails and other email-based social engineering are the initial entry vector in 34% of ransomware incidents.
US organizations report AI-enhanced attack effectiveness at 81%.
User interaction as a bypass factor is highest in Japan (49%), India (49%), and Singapore (48%).
Malicious links are identified as the initial threat in 47% of ransomware incidents.
38% of organizations report that employees interact with malicious content.
34% of ransomware incidents begin with phishing emails or other email-based social engineering.
65% of global organizations affected by ransomware report that AI increases the attack's effectiveness.
Malicious links are identified as the initial threat in 47% of incidents, malicious attachments in 46%, credential harvesting in 36%, and Business Email Compromise in 35%.
Almost two-thirds of organizations confirm that data is stolen during ransomware incidents.
49% of organizations in Japan report user interaction as the reason ransomware bypassed controls.
49% of organizations in India report user interaction as the reason ransomware bypassed controls.
48% of organizations in Singapore report user interaction as the reason ransomware bypassed controls.
38% of organizations attribute ransomware incidents to users interacting with malicious content.
28% of organizations that experienced a ransomware attack say AI significantly increased the attack’s effectiveness.
37% of organizations that experienced a ransomware attack say AI somewhat increased the attack’s effectiveness.
65% of global organizations affected by ransomware say AI increased the effectiveness of the attack.
Only 9% of organizations report no evidence of AI use in their ransomware incidents.
Malicious attachments are identified as the initial threat in 46% of ransomware incidents.
60% of US organizations confirm sensitive data theft in ransomware incidents.
40% of organizations report that employees trust AI-powered attacks.
93% of US organizations affected by ransomware pay the ransom.
Business Email Compromise is identified as the initial threat in 35% of ransomware incidents.
37% of organizations that paid a ransom face a second extortion demand.
81% of US organizations report AI-enhanced attack effectiveness in ransomware incidents.
40% of organizations report that employees do not suspect the ransomware attack because it appears authentic.