Cyber-crime increasingly coming with threats of physical violence

An important development from the financial markets: Cyber-crime increasingly coming with threats of physical violence10 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleEmma WoollacottTechnology reporterGetty ImagesHackers are said to be hiring criminals to threaten employees at companies they are trying to break intoA few years ago, Tim Beasley opened his front door to discover that a small package had been left on the step. "I was like 'what the heck is this? I opened the box, and went 'oh!

', and I immediately threw it away. "Inside the box was a threatening note, alluding to physical violence if he didn't back off. Beasley works for a US security firm called Semperis, and at the time he was involved in ransom negotiations on behalf of a US government organisation that had been hit by a cyber-attack.

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The package delivered to his home in the US was a warning from the ransomware group he had been having to talk to. How crypto criminals stole $700 million from people - often using age-old tricksCyber-attacks continue to soar around the world. In the US alone, the number of reported instances has increased from 288,012 in 2015 to 1,008,597 last year, a record high, according to new figures from the FBI.

It said that the resulting financial loss for US companies and other organisations totalled $20. That was up from $16. Meanwhile, cyber-attacks in the UK also hit new highs last year.

Usually in such instances the hackers try to infiltrate a company's computer system to steal sensitive data, or to take control and lock out the business. The cyber criminals then demand money for the return of the data, or to hand the system back to the firm in question. But an increasing number of cyber attackers are now going further in their efforts to extort their victims - and threatening actual violence.

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The number of such physical threats rose more than twofold last year in the US, FBI annual data shows. Separate research from Semperis found that in as many as 40% of global ransomware attacks in 2025, the criminals threatened to physically harm members of staff who refused to pay a ransom demand. The phenomenon was said to be even more widespread in the US, where companies experienced physical threats 46% of the time.

"It's always been here in the background, but it's becoming more of a reality, slowly inching its way up," says Beasley. Tim BeasleyTim Beasley had a threatening note left on his doorstepHackers are threatening staff after accessing their personal data, including their home addresses. That was the case with one hospital ransom negotiation that Zac Warren from US security firm Tanium worked on.

"We started getting reports that employees within the hospital were getting phone calls," says the chief security advisor for Europe and the Middle East. "So they were calling into the hospital… and asking for nurses by their name, and then talking to them and telling them that they knew where they lived.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.