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Double-extortion RaaS · Active group · Dark web leak site

Kraken Ransomware – Group Analysis & Incident Response

Kraken is an active ransomware group operating a dedicated leak blog and claiming victims across multiple sectors, including technology, business services, telecommunications, consumer services and manufacturing. The group uses a double-extortion model – data theft and public leaks combined with file encryption.

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Active since early 2025 25+ publicly listed victims Targets technology & service providers
Status
Active ransomware group
Known victims
25+ organisations publicly listed
First victim listed
February 2025
Recent activity
Claims still appearing in Q4 2025

Kraken ransomware – threat profile

Operating model & behaviour

Kraken appears to follow the now common double-extortion playbook: intruders move laterally in the victim’s network, exfiltrate data and then deploy ransomware, while simultaneously threatening publication on a dedicated leak blog if payment is not made.

Public leak site data and victim descriptions suggest a focus on:

  • Technology and IT service providers
  • Business and professional services firms
  • Telecommunications and connectivity providers
  • Consumer services and retail-adjacent businesses
  • Manufacturing and logistics

The group’s victim set spans North America, Europe and other regions, with organisations of varying size and criticality.

Leak site & public claims

Kraken maintains a Tor-based leak blog, where it publishes victim names, descriptions and – in some cases – samples or full archives of stolen data. The site is used to apply pressure during negotiations and to demonstrate that the attackers actually hold sensitive information.

We strongly recommend not visiting or interacting with ransomware leak sites directly. Instead, threat intelligence and legal teams should assess exposure using controlled and lawful means.

In many cases, the leak listings remain accessible even after a victim has recovered operations – which is why containment, evidence preservation and strategic communication are as important as technical decryption.

Observed activity & victimology

Publicly available leak site monitoring indicates that Kraken has claimed dozens of victims since early 2025, with a steady stream of new entries through the second half of the year. Many of the listed companies are technology-centric or provide services that other organisations depend on, which increases the risk of supply-chain impact.

Top affected sectors (examples)

  • Technology & IT services
  • Business & professional services
  • Telecommunications providers
  • Consumer services and retail-related companies
  • Manufacturing & logistics companies

Geographical spread (examples)

  • United States and Canada
  • Spain, Italy and other EU member states
  • Selected targets in Latin America and Asia
Important: Victim lists on leak sites are rarely complete. Some organisations pay before publication and never appear; others are listed long after the initial compromise. A structured forensic review is required to understand the real time line and scope of a Kraken intrusion in your environment.

Detection & telemetry – what to look for

Infrastructure & endpoint view

  • Process monitoring: suspicious tools, scripts or cryptominers spawned from application servers or domain controllers.
  • Backup tampering: deletion or modification of backup jobs, snapshot removal, or sudden failures of backup routines.
  • Privilege escalation: new administrative accounts, changes in group membership or abnormal use of remote management tools.
  • Security sensor signals: EDR, XDR, eBPF and similar tooling reporting lateral movement, credential dumping or ransomware-like behaviour.

Network, logs & leak indicators

  • Unusual outbound traffic: large data transfers to unfamiliar hosts or anonymisation services, especially from file servers.
  • Remote access tooling: unexpected use of remote desktop, VPN or third-party remote-support tools.
  • Authentication anomalies: bursts of failed logons, new devices connecting from unusual geolocations or at atypical hours.
  • Leak-site correlation: if you discover your name on a Kraken leak blog, correlate the publication date with internal logs to understand when exfiltration likely occurred.

Limitations of static IoCs

At the time of writing, only limited public indicators of compromise (IoCs) are available for Kraken compared to some older ransomware families. In addition, groups frequently change infrastructure and tooling.

For that reason, we recommend focusing on behavioural detection: unusual authentication patterns, anomalous data transfers, process creation chains and changes to backup or security tooling – rather than relying solely on IP/domain blocklists.

What we do in the first 72 hours of a Kraken incident

The first days of a Kraken ransomware incident are critical. Our structured playbook helps you stabilise operations while preserving evidence and preparing for secure recovery.

0–4 hours: Stabilise & contain

  1. Emergency call & scoping: we clarify what you are seeing (encryption, ransom notes, leak threats) and which systems are affected.
  2. Safe isolation: we guide you through network segmentation and isolation of affected systems – without wiping or re-imaging servers.
  3. Evidence protection: we ensure that logs, snapshots and relevant artefacts are retained for forensics and legal requirements.

4–24 hours: Forensics & impact assessment

  1. Collection of artefacts: system images, key logs, EDR exports and configuration data from critical systems.
  2. Intrusion analysis: initial assessment of intrusion vector, lateral movement and scope of data exfiltration.
  3. Stakeholder briefings: clear, non-technical updates for management, legal, privacy and communications teams.

Day 2–3: Recovery strategy & decision support

  1. Recovery planning: we design a phased recovery plan covering restoration from backups, rebuild options and hardening steps.
  2. Data leak evaluation: we help you understand which data types are likely exposed and what that means for customers, regulators and partners.
  3. Negotiation support: if you are in contact with Kraken or an affiliate, we work alongside your legal and insurance partners to evaluate risks and options – including the implications of paying or not paying.

How we can support you in a Kraken incident

As a specialised incident response and forensics team, we help organisations handle Kraken cases in a structured and defensible way:

  • Rapid remote triage: initial assessment of impact, data exposure and safe next steps.
  • Digital forensics: reconstruction of attacker actions, intrusion vectors and time line for legal and regulatory use.
  • Recovery & hardening: support for restore/rebuild, Active Directory hardening and backup strategy improvements.
  • Detection engineering: SIEM, EDR and log-based detection content tuned to ransomware tradecraft.

Next steps for affected organisations

  1. Assemble a small response team (IT, security, legal/management) and document what you know so far.
  2. Contact our incident response hotline or email dfir@mh-service.de with a short summary (sector, size, affected systems, presence of backups).
  3. We jointly define immediate containment actions and plan the first 24–72 hours of forensics and recovery.

On request, we can work under legal privilege via your external counsel and align with cyber insurance requirements.

Frequently asked questions about Kraken

Do we have to pay the ransom to recover?

Not necessarily. Recovery from backups or rebuilds is often possible without paying, provided that backups have not been compromised and you can tolerate partial data loss. We analyse the technical feasibility and help you weigh options together with legal and business decision-makers.

Can you help if we are already negotiating?

Yes. Many organisations contact us when they are already in contact with the attackers or listed on the leak site. We help interpret attacker claims, support negotiation strategy alongside your legal and insurance partners, and work on technical recovery in parallel.

Is there a public decryptor for Kraken?

At this time, no widely available public decryptor is known for current Kraken variants. We therefore focus on containment, forensic analysis and recovery from backups or clean systems, while monitoring the threat landscape for any new decryption options.

How should we prioritise Kraken versus other threats?

If you operate internet-facing systems that may be reachable by the attackers, or if you already see indicators of compromise, Kraken should be treated as a top-priority incident. Where there is no evidence of targeting, we recommend strengthening your general ransomware readiness (backups, monitoring, MFA, segmentation).