Conti & LockBit Leads Ransomware Comparison

Industries: Academic, Apparel & Fashion, Automobiles, Community, Construction, Consumer Goods & Services, Energy & Utilities, Financial, Foods & Staples, Government, Health Care, Hospitality, Information Technology, Legal, Manufacturing, Materials, Media & Entertainment, Professional Services, Real Estate, Retail, Telecommunications, Transportation | Level: Strategic | Source: Trend Micro

Trend Mico analyzed many ransomware groups between November 2019 and March 2022, comparing them with the most prominent, Conti and Lockbit. During the observed time Conti was associated with 805 identified victims, with Lockbit at 666, and Maze at 330. Tracking victim count over the course of a month since August 2020, initially, Conti has taken and maintained leads over other groups, consistently having victim counts in double digits. Lockbit followed started having very few to three victims a month. The trend changed in July 2021, with Lockbit activity rising sharply, consistently compromising victims into the double-digit counts. From a geographical targeting perspective, Conti's heavily targets North American entities, followed by Europe, with having both accounting for 93% of the victim profile. Lockbit on the other hand has a more dispersed chart. While North American and Europe entities are the majority of Lockbit's victims, the two only account for 68% of the target profile. No specific trend is found from viewing victims based on industry, as both groups evenly target top industry categories.