Financial Sector Hit by 406 Ransomware Incidents: Key Groups and Mitigation Strategies

Between April 2024 and April 2025, the financial sector experienced 406 publicly disclosed ransomware attacks, accounting for 7% of global incidents during this period¹. Flashpoint analysts identified this trend, highlighting the sector’s continued vulnerability to cyber threats. The attacks were primarily attributed to groups like RansomHub, Akira, and LockBit, exploiting known vulnerabilities in VPNs, RDP, and phishing vectors¹.

Top Threat Actors and Attack Vectors

The most active ransomware groups targeting financial institutions included RansomHub (38 victims), Akira (34 victims), and LockBit (29 victims). RansomHub operated as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, leveraging phishing and vulnerability exploits. Akira, linked to the defunct Conti group, focused on VPN and RDP flaws. LockBit made headlines with a false claim against the US Federal Reserve, demonstrating its persistent notoriety¹.

Initial Access Brokers (IABs) played a significant role, with 6,406 financial sector access listings found on dark web forums. These listings often included compromised credentials for VPNs, firewalls, and email systems, which were later weaponized for ransomware deployment¹.

EDR Evasion and Emerging Tactics

One notable incident involved a threat actor bypassing SentinelOne’s EDR protections by exploiting a local upgrade/downgrade vulnerability to deploy Babuk ransomware. SentinelOne later recommended enabling “Online Authorization” to block unauthorized agent modifications².

Attackers increasingly adopted triple extortion tactics, combining data encryption, exfiltration, and DDoS threats. RaaS models proliferated, with 101 variants identified in 2024, including LockBit and Akira. AI-driven threats, such as GenAI-enhanced phishing, also gained traction³.

Mitigation and Response Strategies

Key mitigation steps include:

Patch management: 60% of attacks exploited known vulnerabilities¹.
Backups: Critical for recovery, given the average ransom demand of $2M in 2024¹.
Employee training: 82% of SMB attacks originated from phishing¹.

For financial institutions, monitoring dark web forums for access listings and enforcing strict access controls on VPNs and RDP can reduce exposure. Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) and segmenting networks further limit lateral movement.

Conclusion

The financial sector remains a high-value target for ransomware groups due to its critical role and data sensitivity. Proactive measures, including timely patching, employee awareness, and robust backup strategies, are essential to mitigate risks. As ransomware tactics evolve, continuous threat intelligence sharing and collaboration between organizations will be vital to staying ahead of adversaries.