Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

A U.S. government agency paid $1M to Kairos, a group focused on data theft and extortion rather than ransomware, Ransom-ISAC reports. A new case study from Ransom-ISAC reconstructs a complete data-extortion incident involving a U.S. government body and a threat actor called Kairos, using a leaked negotiation transcript and blockchain tracing of the ransom payment. […]

A U.S. government entity paid about $1 million to keep stolen files from being leaked, according to a new case study by Rakesh Krishnan for Ransom-ISAC, built on a leaked negotiation chat and the blockchain trail the payment left

FulcrumSec leaked data stolen from Novo Nordisk, claiming to have exfiltrated 1.3TB, including clinical records and AI research assets. On June 15, 2026, a data-theft extortion group calling itself FulcrumSec began leaking files from Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, after the company refused a $25 million ransom demand. The attackers claimed […]

Cybercrime group ShinyHunters leaked data allegedly stolen from Charter Communications, exposing millions of customer records after a failed extortion attempt. The ShinyHunters extortion group has published data allegedly stolen from Charter Communications after the company apparently refused to pay a ransom. Charter Communications is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States. It […]

California AG claims genetics biz downplayed 2023 mega-leak while paying ransom to attacker

U.S. telecommunications giant Charter Communications has confirmed it suffered a data breach after the ShinyHunters extortion group threatened to leak stolen data unless a ransom is paid. [...]

A 5-year study on the Ransomware Economy found that 30,515 exposed databases were hit by ransom attacks, causing massive damage despite victims never paying. Database extortion doesn’t look like the ransomware stories that usually grab headlines. There’s no slick branding, no leak-site countdown, no gang posting memes on Telegram. In most cases, there’s just a […]

Monday opens with a trust problem. A mail server flaw is under active use. A network control system was targeted. Trusted packages were poisoned. A fake model page pushed a stealer. Then came the familiar ransom claim: the data was returned and deleted

Hackers Constantly Break 'Confirmation of Data Destruction' PromisesWhen a business that stores children's personal data gets hit by data-leaking extortionists, what should it do? For Instructure, which develops online learning platform Canvas, the answer was to pay a ransom, and tell victims, straight-faced, to have "digital confirmation of data destruction."

American educational technology company Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, said it reached an "agreement" with a decentralized cybercrime extortion group after it breached its network and threatened to leak stolen information from thousands of schools and universities

ShinyHunters, a prolific cybercrime group, threatened to leak data from more than 8,800 school systems. The post Instructure claims hackers returned stolen Canvas data after an extortion standoff appeared first on CyberScoop.

UPDATED: Sorry, kids, everything's back up so get to work on your new assignment - An essay on the ethics of paying ransoms, because it looks like that's what happened here

ShinyHunters has escalated its Canvas extortion campaign, defacing hundreds of school login pages and threatening to leak stolen data unless institutions negotiate

An ongoing data extortion attack targeting the widely-used education technology platform Canvas disrupted classes and coursework at school districts and universities across the United States today, after a cybercrime group defaced the service's login page with a ransom demand that threatened to leak data from 275 million students and faculty across nearly 9,000 educational institutions.

Home security giant ADT has confirmed a data breach after the ShinyHunters extortion group threatened to leak stolen data unless a ransom is paid. [...]

The Seiko USA website was defaced over the weekend, displaying a message from attackers claiming they stole its Shopify customer database and threatening to leak it unless a ransom is paid. [...]

Company refuses to pay ransom as attackers threaten larger daily dumps The Netherlands' national police is backing Odido's refusal to pay a ransom after ShinyHunters leaked a second round of records belonging to the telco.…

Revenue From Supply-Chain Attacks by Clop Group Sharply Fell, Report InvestigatorsOnce lucrative steal-and-leak campaigns pioneered by Russian ransomware group Clop look set to go the way of the dinosaurs. While an estimated 25% of victims paid a ransom in the inaugural campaign five years ago, the number of victims that paid fell to zero by 2023, report ransomware responders.

Russia-Linked Ransomware Group Dumps Customer Data After Failed Extortion AttemptUnder Armour may trade on the "blood, sweat, respect" slogan, but a Russia-linked ransomware group hasn't been abiding, after they stole data pertaining to 72.7 million of the athleisure giant's customers, then leaked it on darkweb sites after saying the retailer refused to pay a ransom.

More Than 100,000 Affected by Hack Detected on Dec. 30The New Zealand government is probing a year-end ransomware hack of private healthcare service provider Manage My Health that impacted thousands of patients. Digital extortion group Kazu has claimed responsibility and threatened to leak the data on Jan. 15 unless it receives a $60,000 ransom.