Last year, ransomware crews launched ~50% more attacks — and made ~8% less money. The lock stopped paying, so they stopped using it. In 2026, 94% of ransomware cases involve stealing your data, and only 68% even bother to encrypt it. Welcome to the exfiltration era, where your backups don't save you. What you'll hear: • The shift to encryptionless extortion — steal and threaten to leak, instead of encrypt • The numbers — payments down ~8% ($820M) as attacks hit records; why the "% who pay" figure (20/28/48%) depends on who's counting • The twist — exfiltration is dominant but NOT a guaranteed payday; victims increasingly call the bluff (~2.5% on one campaign) • The 2026 landscape — post-LockBit reshuffle: Akira + Qilin lead, Clop goes exfil-only, help-desk crews launch their own RaaS • The AI angle — one operator + Claude Code = a 17-org extortion  ...