Ransomware is rising again and this time it is more fragmented, unpredictable, and dangerous than ever.
According to a recent global report, in the third quarter of 2025, researchers tracked 1,592 new ransomware victims across 85 distinct extortion groups, a 25% increase from last year (news.abplive.com).
Importantly, the distribution of attacks is no longer dominated by a few notorious gangs. Smaller and agile groups, some newly formed, have emerged, making the threat landscape messy and unpredictable.
Even though the United States accounted for 52% of all ransomware victims in Q3 2025, other regions are not immune. One country that stood out is India, which, despite representing about 2% of all victims, ranked 9th globally.
That 2% matters. With growing digital economies, cloud adoption, and expanded online services, countries like India and other emerging markets may soon see that number climb higher.
At the same time, some of the most dangerous ransomware actors are sharpening their playbooks. For instance:
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Qilin has become the most active ransomware group of 2025, averaging 75 victims per month, more than double its activity earlier in the year.
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LockBit 5.0, the resurrection of the well-known LockBit family, has re-emerged with enhanced encryption, multi-platform support (Windows, Linux, ESXi), and techniques designed to evade traditional signature-based detection.
This signals a sobering and urgent reality for businesses. Ransomware is no longer just about mass encryptions by a few big players. The landscape is fragmented, highly dynamic, and weaponized by criminal actors who operate like agile start-ups, turning ransomware into a scalable and unpredictable business.
Why Detect and Respond Is No Longer Enough
For years, organizations have relied on a “detect and respond” mindset: antivirus, endpoint detection and response (EDR), network monitoring, and incident response teams. When a breach is detected, the goal was to act fast to contain it, recover data, and remediate the damage.
That approach worked until now.
Today’s ransomware environment undermines this reactive model for several reasons:
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Speed and stealth: Groups like Qilin and LockBit 5.0 use advanced encryption, evasion techniques, and cross-platform tools, often giving little to no warning before the damage is done. By the time detection triggers, critical data may already be encrypted or exfiltrated.
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Fragmentation and unpredictability: With 85+ active groups, many of them small, mobile, and unknown, organizations cannot rely on threat intelligence based on a handful of well-known gangs. New threats can come from anywhere, with little to no historical footprint.
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Ransomware as a service: Criminals offering ransomware as a service reduce the barrier to entry. Unskilled attackers can launch potent, automated campaigns, increasing attack volume and broadening the target pool.
In short, the window between compromise and critical damage is shrinking. Reactive approaches are too slow. Business owners need a new paradigm that prevents damage before it occurs.
Isolation and Containment: The Proactive Alternative
Isolation and containment, rather than detection and response, are vital. By embracing a security model rooted in behavioral control and automatic containment, businesses can reduce exposure to ransomware and other endpoint threats.
AppGuard delivers exactly this. With a proven 10-year track record, AppGuard isolates applications and processes, blocks unauthorized behavior, and prevents malware from executing or spreading, even if a threat bypasses perimeter defenses.
Because AppGuard restricts what processes can do, not just what is already known to be malicious, it is effective against new, unknown, or obfuscated threats such as modern ransomware groups like Qilin and LockBit 5.0.
For businesses in markets experiencing digital growth, adopting AppGuard means shifting security posture from reactive remediation to proactive prevention. It is the difference between hoping to catch a breach early and ensuring it never compromises your core systems.
The Time to Act Is Now
The Q3 2025 ransomware data should serve as a warning. Fragmentation, volume, and evolving tactics show that every business with digital assets is a potential target.
For business leaders, it is no longer enough to rely on detection and response. Endpoint security must be proactive.
We at CHIPS urge you to consider AppGuard today. With its decade-long legacy of protecting enterprises and now available for commercial deployment, it offers the proactive defense your organization needs in 2025 and beyond.
Reach out to us. Let CHIPS help you move from detect and respond to isolation and containment. Prevention is not optional. It is vital.
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