Ransomware attacks in the United Kingdom: 319 confirmed incidents, 2018 to 2026

// CONFIRMED RANSOMWARE ATTACKS · COUNTRY

Ransomnews has confirmed 319 ransomware attacks in the United Kingdom between February 2018 and August 2026, each one verified against a public source such as a breach notification, regulatory filing, court record or press report. That is 3.4% of the 9,520 confirmed incidents in the dataset. So far in 2026, 11 have been confirmed, against 35 in 2025 and 43 in 2024. The most affected sector is education, with 85 confirmed victims (27%). London is the city with the most confirmed victims, at 78. Where the operator is attributed, LockBit leads with 23 confirmed victims. A ransom payment is on the public record in 4 cases and a refusal in 57; the outcome is unrecorded in the remaining 258.

Confirmed ransomware attacks in the United Kingdom by year

The current year is a partial count. Confirmation lags the attack itself, so recent months keep filling in after the fact; read a low figure for the latest year as incomplete rather than as a decline.

Which ransomware groups attack organisations in the United Kingdom most

The operator is attributed in 229 of the 319 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 the United Kingdom fall

Ransom payment outcomes in the United Kingdom

Among the 61 confirmed incidents in the United Kingdom where the outcome is on the public record, 4 paid and 57 refused, a disclosed payment rate of 6.6%. The remaining 258 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 the United Kingdom 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.

Most recent confirmed ransomware attacks in the United Kingdom

The 25 most recently confirmed of 319 incidents, newest first. 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: [email protected]. See also the monthly ransomware statistics and the Ransomtracker.