Ransomware attacks in October 2026: 25 confirmed incidents so far

CONFIRMED RANSOMWARE ATTACKS · MONTH · PROVISIONAL

Ransomnews has confirmed 25 ransomware attacks in October 2026, each one verified against a public source such as a breach notification, regulatory filing, court record or press report. That is 0.3% of the 9,747 confirmed incidents in the dataset. That compares with 58 in September 2026 and 121 in October 2025. Confirmation lags the attack by weeks and often months, because breach notifications, regulatory filings and court records arrive after the event, so this count is provisional and will rise as disclosures catch up. Read it as a floor. The United States accounts for 7 of them (28%), with victims recorded in 11 countries in total. The most affected sector is government, with 5 confirmed victims (20%). Where the operator is attributed, Everest leads with 3 confirmed victims. No ransom payment is on the public record; a refusal is recorded in 6 cases and the outcome is unrecorded in the remaining 19.

Confirmed ransomware attacks by month, trailing 13 months to October 2026

Every month is a partial count until disclosures stop arriving, which typically takes three to four months. Compare October 2026 with months of the same age rather than with fully matured ones.

Which ransomware groups had the most confirmed victims in October 2026

The operator is attributed in 19 of the 25 confirmed incidents. Counts are confirmed victims, not leak-site claims, so they run well below the totals the groups publish about themselves. Group names link to the live Ransomtracker profile where one exists.

Where the confirmed attacks in October 2026 fall

Country shares carry a reporting bias. United States breach-notification law and SEC disclosure rules push far more incidents onto the public record than most jurisdictions, which makes American attacks easier to confirm and inflates the US share of any confirmed dataset.

Ransom payment outcomes in October 2026

Among the 6 confirmed incidents in October 2026 where the outcome is on the public record, 0 paid and 6 refused, a disclosed payment rate of 0%. The remaining 19 carry no public statement either way. Victims that pay have every incentive to stay quiet and public bodies are the most likely to announce a refusal, so treat this as the disclosed rate, not the true one. The ransomware payment rate analysis explains how the disclosed rate has moved since 2018 and how it compares with incident-response firm samples.

Largest confirmed ransomware attacks in October 2026 by records exposed

Record counts are recorded only where a named source disclosed them, which is the minority of cases, so this table ranks disclosed impact rather than true impact.

All confirmed ransomware attacks in October 2026

All 25 of 25 confirmed incidents, with more expected as disclosures catch up. Every row links to the public source it was verified against.

Frequently asked questions

How to read this page. Every incident counted here was verified by Ransomnews against at least one public source. Leak-site listings alone do not qualify, because operators inflate, duplicate and occasionally fabricate claims, so these totals are a defensible floor rather than a full census. Records exposed and ransom outcomes appear only where a named source disclosed them. The page is regenerated from the live database, which refreshes weekly. Cite as: Ransomnews Confirmed Ransomware Attacks Dataset, ransomnews.com, with a link to this page. Bulk access and methodology questions: editor@ransomnews.com. See also the monthly ransomware statistics and the Ransomtracker.