Group-IB, a leading creator of cybersecurity technologies to investigate, prevent, and fight digital crime, today released their annual Hi-Tech Crime Trends report. In 2023, Group-IB’s report revealed a 68% surge in ransomware attacks, primarily affecting financial services and real estate sectors.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, South Africa, and Turkey were the top targets for Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) affiliates. Information stealers posed a significant threat, impacting over 297,106 infected devices in the MEA region, with an additional 903,002 hosts’ logs available for sale on underground markets. Moreover, 152 new data leaks were identified in the MEA region during the same period.