There's some stats out there that say the buyer, by 2031 is going to be worth like

$265 billion, the ransomware industry. I think now that people realize that data is pretty

much the most important asset a company has, ransomware is absolutely taken off because

essentially you're attacking the most valuable asset in that company. Rantamware's absolutely taken off because essentially you're attacking

the most valuable asset in that company. You don't need me to tell you that cyber security is big

business. In fact, it's estimated to be worth around $160 billion. But that is likely to be

peanuts compared to the value of cybercrime, which is estimated to cost the global economy a staggering $600 billion in 2022, nearly 1% of the global economy.

And just one corner of that, ransomware, costs the same in damage and paid out fees as the

entire cyber security industry. That's $160 billion. It's an unfathomably large number,

bigger than many countries' GDPs. In fact, if ransomware was a country, it would be worth as much

as Morocco or Kuwait.

Which is why it's not entirely surprising that ransomware is no longer the preserve of shady criminal gangs.

Actual nation states are getting in on the act as well.

Up to 40% of ransomware attacks are now believed, though not proven, to originate from groups

supported by nation states. By far the largest, 75% have ties to the Russian government, a statistic

brewing long before the war in Ukraine. Those are the headline stats, and they are mind-boggling.

They left our producer staring at his screen

blankly even without the need for a hacker to lock him out of his files. And that is what we're

going to be exploring this week, the shady world of ransomware and what international organizations

can do to protect themselves.

Thank you. themselves. You are listening to Technology Untangled, a show which looks at the rapid evolution of technology

and unravels the way it's changing our world.

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