All news with #ransomware gang tag

🛡️ South Korea's financial sector was struck by a coordinated supply-chain campaign that deployed Qilin ransomware via a compromised MSP, Bitdefender reports. The operation, self-styled as 'Korean Leaks', unfolded in three publication waves in September–October 2025 and resulted in the theft of over 1 million files (about 2 TB) from 28 victims. Analysis ties the clustered intrusions to a single upstream MSP compromise and notes possible involvement by North Korean-affiliated actors alongside Qilin affiliates operating under a RaaS model.

⚠️ Unit 42 documents a renewed campaign by the Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters (SLSH) that combines a supply-chain driven data theft affecting Gainsight/Salesforce integrations with the emergence of a new Windows-focused ransomware-as-a-service, ShinySp1d3r. The actors publicly threatened mass ransomware deployment and set a leak deadline while also actively recruiting insiders and claiming hundreds of additional victim accesses. Organizations should prioritize rotating exposed tokens, enforcing strong insider controls, and engaging incident response if they suspect compromise.

🔒 A threat actor claims to have stolen 2.3 terabytes of data from Almaviva, the IT services provider linked to Italy's state-owned rail operator, FS Italiane Group. The actor posted the alleged dump on a dark web forum and described the contents as confidential documents, technical files, contracts, HR and accounting archives. Almaviva confirmed a cyberattack affecting corporate systems, said some data were taken, and reported it to national authorities while an investigation is ongoing.

🔓 A threat actor claims to have stolen 2.3 terabytes of data from IT services provider Almaviva and posted the material on a dark web forum. The leak reportedly includes confidential documents and sensitive information related to FS Italiane Group, such as internal shares, technical documentation, contracts, HR and accounting archives. D3Lab's Andrea Draghetti says the files are recent (Q3 2025) and not recycled from a 2022 Hive incident. Almaviva confirmed a breach, says affected systems were isolated, and that authorities have been notified while an investigation continues.

🔒 The US, UK, and Australia have sanctioned Russian bulletproof hosting provider Media Land and related companies for supporting ransomware gangs such as LockBit, BlackSuit, and Play. Three executives were also designated and assets frozen, while clients and facilitators face secondary sanctions. Five Eyes agencies issued guidance for ISPs to detect and block BPH-enabled abuse.

🔒 CrowdStrike describes how OverWatch detected and disrupted BLOCKADE SPIDER, a financially motivated eCrime group that has used cross-domain techniques since at least April 2024 to access unmanaged systems, dump credentials, and deploy Embargo ransomware. By correlating endpoint, identity, and cloud telemetry in Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and Falcon Identity Threat Protection, analysts traced a compromised VPN service account and observed MFA bypass and AD manipulation. The account underscores the value of unified visibility to stop lateral movement and protect critical assets.

🛑 Dutch police seized around 250 physical servers and thousands of virtual machines tied to a bulletproof hosting service that allegedly catered exclusively to cybercriminals. Authorities say the infrastructure has been used since 2022 in more than 80 investigations and facilitated ransomware, botnets, phishing, and distribution of child abuse content. Investigators will perform forensic analysis on the seized systems to identify operators and clients. No arrests have been announced; the provider CrazyRDP has reportedly gone offline after the action.

🔒 Cisco Talos reported August 2025 activity by Kraken, a Russian‑speaking ransomware operation linked to the remnants of HelloKitty. The group exploits SMB flaws for initial access, uses Cloudflare for persistence and SSHFS to exfiltrate data, then deploys cross‑platform encryptors across Windows, Linux and VMware ESXi. Notably, Kraken benchmarks victim machines to tune encryption speed and reduce detection and instability. Victims span multiple countries and attackers operate a new leak forum called Last Haven Board.

🔒 Checkout.com confirmed that the criminal group ShinyHunters accessed a legacy third-party cloud file storage system used in 2020 and earlier and is attempting to extort the company. The exposed materials reportedly include merchant onboarding documents and internal operational files, and Checkout estimates the data affects less than 25% of its current merchant base while also touching former customers. Rather than paying, the firm said it will donate the ransom amount to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Oxford Cyber Security Center and invest in strengthening its security.

🔒 A joint US and international advisory on 14 November attributes approximately $244.17m in illicit proceeds to the Akira ransomware group since late September 2025. The advisory reports rapid data exfiltration in some incidents and details exploitation of SonicWall CVE-2024-40766, expansion to Nutanix AHV disk encryption, and attacks leveraging SSH and unpatched Veeam servers. Operators employ initial access brokers, tunnelling tools and remote access software such as AnyDesk to persist and evade detection. Organisations are urged to prioritise patching, enforce phishing-resistant MFA, and maintain offline backups.

🔒Aleksey Olegovich Volkov, a 25-year-old Russian accused of acting as an initial access broker, is set to plead guilty in a federal case tied to the Yanluowang ransomware group. Prosecutors say he sold administrator credentials to operators and received over $256,000, while victims paid ransoms up to $1 million. Investigators traced Bitcoin flows to wallets Volkov verified with identity documents, and his plea includes more than $9 million in restitution.

🔍 Operation Chargeback led to coordinated raids and arrests targeting three alleged international fraud and money-laundering networks that exploited stolen payment data from more than 4.3 million cardholders across 193 countries. Authorities executed 60 searches and 18 arrest warrants after nearly five years of investigation, seizing assets and digital evidence. Investigators say the groups generated roughly 19 million fraudulent subscription charges, abused payment-provider systems and used shell companies to launder proceeds while masking low-value recurring fees to avoid detection.

⚖️ The U.S. Treasury's OFAC imposed sanctions on two North Korean financial institutions and eight individuals accused of laundering cryptocurrency stolen in cyberattacks and operating fraudulent IT worker schemes. Designated entities include Ryujong Credit Bank and Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company (KMCTC), plus named bankers linked to ransomware proceeds. The actions block property under U.S. jurisdiction and warn financial institutions of secondary sanctions and enforcement risk for transacting with the listed parties.

🔒 The Apache Software Foundation says there is no evidence that Apache OpenOffice was breached after the Akira ransomware gang claimed on October 30 that it had stolen 23 GB of corporate documents. The Foundation notes it does not maintain payroll-style employee records or the types of financial and identity documents described, and it has not received a ransom demand. An internal investigation so far has found no compromise and Akira has not published any of the alleged data.

🕸 The nascent Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters (SLH) collective — a merging of Scattered Spider, LAPSUS$, and ShinyHunters — has repeatedly recreated its Telegram presence, cycling channels at least 16 times since August 8, 2025. The group markets an extortion-as-a-service offering to affiliates, targets organizations including those using Salesforce, and has teased a custom ransomware family called Sh1nySp1d3r. Trustwave SpiderLabs assesses SLH as blending financially motivated crime with attention-seeking hacktivism and sophisticated brand management.

🛡️DragonForce, a ransomware operation built from leaked Conti source code, has restructured into a self-styled cartel that recruits affiliates and encourages branded variants. Researchers at Acronis report it retains Conti’s ChaCha20/RSA encryption, SMB-based network spreading, and multiple encryption modes while employing a hidden configuration system. Operators have pursued aggressive tactics — including defacing rival leak sites and aligning with access brokers like Scattered Spider — and have threatened victims with decryptor deletion and data leaks.

🔒 Three cybersecurity professionals have been indicted for allegedly operating an ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware affiliate network that attacked at least five U.S. companies between May and November 2023. Prosecutors named former Sygnia incident response manager Ryan Clifford Goldberg and negotiator Kevin Tyler Martin of DigitalMint, accusing them of exfiltrating data, encrypting systems, and demanding cryptocurrency extortion payments. An FBI affidavit describes encrypted dark‑web negotiations, multi‑hop transfers using privacy coins such as Monero, and meticulous spreadsheets that tracked ransoms, receipts, and wallet addresses. Charges include conspiracy to extort and intentional damage to protected computers, with potential forfeiture of crypto assets.

🔒 Federal prosecutors have indicted three U.S. nationals accused of using BlackCat (ALPHV) ransomware to breach five companies between May and November 2023 and extort payments. The defendants—Ryan Clifford Goldberg, Kevin Tyler Martin, and an unnamed co‑conspirator—allegedly targeted firms in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, clinical care, engineering, and drone manufacturing. Two were employed by cybersecurity firms at the time; both employers say they cooperated with investigators.

🔒 A Ukrainian national extradited from Ireland has appeared in a US court, accused of conspiring to deploy Conti ransomware and manage stolen data and ransom notes. Authorities allege Oleksii Lytvynenko participated in attacks between 2020 and July 2022 that resulted in more than $500,000 in cryptocurrency extorted from victims in the Tennessee district and the publication of additional stolen data. He faces computer fraud and wire fraud conspiracy charges and could receive up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

🔒 AdaptixC2, an open-source command-and-control framework, has been adopted by multiple threat actors, including groups tied to Russian ransomware operations, prompting warnings about its dual-use nature. The tool offers encrypted communications, credential and screenshot managers, remote terminal capabilities, a Golang server, and a cross-platform C++ QT GUI client. Security firms Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 and Silent Push have analyzed its modular capabilities and traced marketing activity to a developer using the handle RalfHacker. Observed abuse includes fake Microsoft Teams help-desk scams and an AI-generated PowerShell loader used to deliver post-exploitation payloads.