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Ransomware has evolved from a persistent cybersecurity threat into a business-critical risk with immediate operational, financial, and reputational consequences. Yet, despite years of investment and heightened awareness, many organizations remain unprepared for the reality of modern attacks.
This challenge is especially visible in Mexico, where the threat landscape is accelerating. By 2025, Mexico had risen to 11th globally in ransomware attacks, making it one of the most targeted countries in the world and the second most affected in Latin America.
Recent incidents highlight the stakes. Government entities have faced ransomware related breaches that exposed sensitive data, while more recent campaigns have targeted public sector systems and critical infrastructure.
These are not isolated events. Mexico remains one of the most targeted countries in Latin America, particularly across manufacturing, financial services, and government sectors.
New research from Halcyon’s “The Ransomware Gap in the AI Era” survey reveals a clear and concerning pattern: security leaders are confident, experienced and well resourced, but the tools they rely on are not keeping pace with today’s threat landscape.
This disconnect is what we call the ransomware gap.
At the center of this gap is a striking contradiction. Nearly all security leaders, 99%, say they are confident in their ability to detect ransomware attacks. Yet 49% of organizations still experienced an attack, and among those victims, nearly half reported detecting the attack too late to prevent meaningful damage. This is not a failure of leadership or expertise. It is a failure of approach.
For years, organizations have relied on general purpose security tools such as endpoint detection and response to defend against ransomware. These tools were not designed for the speed, scale, and sophistication of modern ransomware campaigns. Today, 98% of organizations still use these tools, yet only 25% trust them to stop current threats.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating both sides of this equation, with attackers moving faster than ever before. AI is lowering the barrier to entry, enabling more convincing phishing, automating reconnaissance and allowing threat actors to scale their operations with greater speed and precision. At the same time, only a small percentage of security leaders believe AI is meaningfully improving their defenses today.
Over time, that balance will shift. AI has the potential to significantly strengthen defenders by enabling faster detection, more precise disruption and greater automation across the ransomware attack lifecycle. But realizing that advantage requires purpose-built approaches that are designed specifically to counter ransomware, not general tools retrofitted for a different era.
Nearly half of organizations that experienced a ransomware attack reported moderate to significant operational disruption. In a highly interconnected economy, that disruption does not stay contained. It impacts supply chains, customer trust, and broader business continuity.
What makes ransomware unique is not just its frequency, but its structure. While the tactics and techniques continue to evolve, the objective remains consistent. Attackers gain access, move laterally, exfiltrate data, and then execute encryption or extortion. Yet, most security strategies are still designed to detect threats broadly rather than disrupt this attack life cycle.
This is why incremental improvements to legacy tools are no longer sufficient. Organizations need a more focused approach, one that is purpose built to prevent, disrupt and recover from ransomware attacks across the full attack chain.
Encouragingly, business leaders are beginning to recognize this shift. Ransomware is no longer just a technical issue. It is a board level priority that is directly influencing investment decisions and security strategy.
The path forward requires a change in mindset. Mostly sufficient security is not enough when facing adversaries that are faster, more automated and increasingly powered by AI. Organizations must move beyond confidence in their defenses and focus on outcomes: detecting attacks, minimizing downtime, and eliminating the need to pay ransoms.
Ransomware is not just another cyber threat. It is a distinct and evolving category of attack. Closing the ransomware gap will require an equally focused and modern approach.
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