Extortion-only attacks increase, with data theft dominating ransomware claims

Insurance experts have urged organizations to reduce their exposure to extortion-only attacks and better manage the consequences when they occur, after revealing a surge in this category of threats.

Insurer Resilience said in a new report that 65% of extortion-related claims it handled in the second half of 2025 did not involve data encryption. That’s up from 49% in the first half of the year.

By the end of 2025, only 13% of attacks relied on encryption alone, while data theft – on its own or combined with encryption – accounted for 87% of ransomware claims, it noted.

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