Nearly one in five ransomware incidents in the US resulted in a lawsuit in 2023, with 123 cases filed so far. The number of lawsuits is expected to increase as data breach notifications continue to be issued from incidents in the previous year. From 2018 to 2023, there was a noticeable increase in lawsuits following ransomware attacks, with a total of 355 lawsuits filed out of over 3000 confirmed incidents
Out of the 228 completed cases, 59% were successful with outcomes like data breach settlements, fines for inadequate safeguards, and settlements out of court. The main reason for these lawsuits is data breaches, impacting approximately 283.3 million records in the 355 attacks where lawsuits were initiated. Healthcare and finance sectors had the highest number of lawsuits, correlating with the large volumes of breached records. Lawsuits have resulted in significant financial costs, with organizations paying over $245m in out-of-court settlements and facing nearly $10m in regulatory fines related to ransomware attacks. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-attacks-trigger-lawsuit/