Ransomware's Fragmentation Reaches a Breaking Point While LockBit Returns
Key Takeaways: 85 active ransomware and extortion groups observed in Q3 2025, reflecting the most decentralized ransomware ecosystem to date
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Key Takeaways: 85 active ransomware and extortion groups observed in Q3 2025, reflecting the most decentralized ransomware ecosystem to date
The leak serves as a wake-up call: Being prepared is the cornerstone of a successful defense, and those who don't prepare are going to face uncertainty caused by the lack of attackers' accountability.
May Database Leak Shows Ransomware Group Taking New ChancesAffiliates of beleaguered ransomware-as-a-service operation LockBit have turned toward Chinese targets, finds an analysis of a May leak of the group's admin panel. LockBit affiliates targeted 156 organizations during that time, the majority of them located in China.
'Lite Panel' Offering Easy Access to Anyone for Just $777 Confirmed by ResearcherRansomware groups continue to find innovative new ways to shake down organizations large and small in their pursuit of ransom payoffs. For the LockBit group, one tweak was to debut a "lite" version of its ransomware portal that appears to have amassed dozens of very inexperienced business partners.
Exposed data from LockBit's affiliate panel includes Bitcoin addresses, private chats with victim organizations, and user information such as credentials.
Exposes Details of Victims, 'Aggressive' Negotiations, Cryptocurrency AddressesOne year to the day after an international law enforcement operation unmasked and indicted the leader of the notorious LockBit ransomware group, a hacker has sent the group another love letter.
Cut off one head, two more grow back in its place RansomHub, the ransomware collective that emerged earlier this year, quickly gained momentum, outpacing its criminal colleagues and hitting its victims especially hard. The group named and shamed hundreds of organizations on its leak site, while demanding exorbitant payments across various industries.…
Also: Interpol Says 'Pig Butchering' Shames Victims, A Data Leak Scandal in MexicoThis week, U.S. asks Israel to extradite an alleged LockBit coder, don't say "pig butchering," and an Apache Struts flaw. A hunt for alleged data thieves in Mexico, Europe probes TikTok and Netfilix fined 4.75 million. A ransomware attack against Texas medical centers and a credit union breach.
Data Leak Preceded Law Enforcement Crackdown on Group That Targets Health SectorA clinic in Hawaii is notifying 124,000 patients that their health data was potentially compromised in a May hack. Lockbit 3.0 claims to have published the stolen records on its data leak site in June - months before global authorities this week disclosed a crackdown on the cybercrime gang.
And also: What looks like proof that stolen data was never deleted even after ransom was paid Building on the success of what's known around here as LockBit Leak Week in February, the authorities say they've arrested a further four individuals with ties to the now-scuppered LockBit ransomware empire.…
Aleksandr Ryzhenkov alleged to have extorted around $100M from victims, built 60 LockBit attacks The latest installment of the National Crime Agency's (NCA) series of ransomware revelations from February's LockBit Leak Week emerges today as the agency identifies a man it not only believes is a member of the long-running Evil Corp crime group but also a LockBit affiliate.…
Canadian Retail Pharmacy Chain Says It's Reviewing Exposed Data on Gang's Leak SiteLockBit has begun to leak on its dark web site files of data the Russian-speaking cybercriminal gang claims to have stolen in an April attack on London Drugs. The group had threatened to publish the exfiltrated data if the Canadian retail pharmacy chain does not pay a $25 million ransom demand.
Threatens to Leak Stolen Data; Attack Temporarily Shut Down Retail Pharmacy StoresLockBit cybercriminals demanded a $25 million ransom from Canadian pharmacy retail chain London Drugs following an attack detected in late April that forced the company to temporarily close its 79 stores across western Canada for more than a week.
PLUS: More data leaks at the US Patent Office; LockBit still tough enough for Wichita; and some critical vulnerabilities in brief Encrypted email service Proton Mail is in hot water again, and for the same thing that earned it flack before: handing user data over to law enforcement. …
International Police Operation Revives Seized LockBit Dark Web Leak SitePolice behind an international law enforcement operation targeting LockBit resurrected the leak site they seized earlier this year from the ransomware-as-a-service group and posted a countdown clock suggesting they will reveal the identity of LockBitSupp, the group's leader.
The NCA, FBI, and Europol have revived a seized LockBit ransomware data leak site to hint at new information being revealed by law enforcement this Tuesday. [...]
Cyber threat intelligence provider Cyble found that DragonForce was using a ransomware binary based on LockBit Black’s builder
Also: Congress Weighs in on Change Healthcare Saga; Hot Topics at ISMG’s AI SummitIn the latest weekly update, ISMG editors discussed the rise of criminal groups using leaked LockBit ransomware for global cyberattacks, Congress's recent hearing on the cyberattack targeting Change Healthcare and takeaways from ISMG’s Cybersecurity Implications of AI Summit
Experts See Surge in Attacks, Including in Russia, Using Leaked LockBit CodeWhat do a German healthcare network, a Russian security company and an American bridal clothing retailer have in common? All seem to have been compromised in recent months by attackers who wielded LockBit crypto-locking malware - but who weren't tied to the actual LockBit operation.
A Trend Micro report shows a clear drop in the number of actual infections associated with the LockBit ransomware following Operation Cronos