Cybersecurity Ventures projects ransomware costs could top $265 billion a year by 2031, while total cybercrime damages may hit $10.5 trillion globally this year.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most potent force multipliers the criminal underground has ever seen. Generative models that write immaculate prose, mimic voices, and chain exploits together have lowered the cost of sophisticated cyberattacks to almost nothing.
The first quarter of 2025 saw an unprecedented 126 percent surge in ransomware incidents. Since then, there’s been a spree of high-impact attacks against high-profile brands. British retail institutions, global brands, major logistics operators, and more have all been hit by highly sophisticated attacks.
Ransomware, phishing, and deepfakes have merged into a low-barrier ecosystem where a cloud-hosted toolkit, a stolen credential, and a crypto wallet now suffice to run an international extortion ring.
A post in Communications of the ACM (CACM) peels back the mechanics and economics of that new criminal frontier and offers actionable insights for defense.
