Article
Maze Ransomware: Is Posting Data Counterproductive?
Combating Ransomware
Summary
In 2020, Maze Ransomware began utilizing both encryption and data exfiltration in an attempt to maximize ransom payments, but these tactics may backfire by adding additional incident response costs for victims.
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Ransomware incidents dominated INFOSEC news in 2019. Penetration methods continued to evolve, attacks became more targeted and ransom demands continued to rise. A major shift in attacker tactics happened in early December when the group behind the Maze ransomware variant started to exfiltrate their victim’s data along with encrypting their files. It was disclosed during active ransom negotiations with the Maze actors that the data that is being exfiltrated from victim networks is being analyzed by Maze actors to determine the price for the ransom demand. The Maze group also created a web page and began to publish data of the victims who refused to pay the ransom.
Maze victims could now be extorted in two different ways, forcing clients to deal with a double-pronged issue – data loss on the one hand and data leakage on the other. This makes restoration from backups a lot less appealing as attackers now are leveraging the data extortion component to apply pressure to victims to pay the ransom demands (even if they have valid backups) to stop further data leakage.
It didn’t take long for a few other ransomware variants, like REvil/Sodinokibi, DopplePaymer, Pysa/Mespinoza, Ako, Clop, Lockbit, Nefilm, Nemty, Netwalker, Ragnar, Sekhmet, Snatch, and Zeppelin, to follow Maze off the bridge and start accessing and exfiltrating their victim’s data as well. All groups believed that having their victim’s data may increase their chances of the ransom being paid but, in reality, this strategy will most likely do quite the opposite.
For every organization that is experiencing a ransomware event, the overall incident response price tag consists of several components:
Initial triage and containment efforts to ensure that the attackers no longer have access to systems and networks Legal assessment to identify all applicable obligations under state and federal laws and regulations Forensic evidence collection and preservation Recovery of data and systems (note: this can occur either by paying the ransom, restoring from backups, or rebuilding systems and data from scratch) Digital forensics investigation
And, if the results of the forensics investigation do not rule out data access or exfiltration by the attacker:
Collection and data mining of compromised data to identify all PII/PCI/PHI records (eDiscovery)
Legal review of results
Notifications of individuals and organizations whose data was compromised;
DarkWeb search and monitoring services to proactively detect if compromised data would get posted on hacker forums or under ground markets.
Prior to December 2019, data access and/or exfiltration for the majority of ransomware incidents were ruled out based upon the results of digital forensics investigations. Because of that, the chances of victims being required to pay hefty fees for eDiscovery and notification services were fairly low. Currently, since more and more ransomware groups have been adopting the tactic of stealing sensitive data, victims have to assume that, as a part of incident response costs, they’ll have to pay for eDiscovery and notification services as well.
At the end of the day, whether to pay or not to pay a ransom is a business decision for every company. By stealing sensitive data, ransomware groups automatically trigger additional mandatory expenses for their victims. This money will be going to companies that specialize in eDiscovery / breach notifications and not the ransomware groups. Even if victims of ransomware attacks have cyber insurance policies, a large portion of their coverage limits will be eaten away by those additional expenses, leaving less money on the table for potential ransom payments.
It might be a good time for ransomware groups to reconsider their strategy and climb back up on that bridge.
Some screen shots of sites where ransomware groups publish victims’ data:
Figure 1 - maze
Figure 2 - Dopplepaymer
Figure 3 - Sodinokibi
Figure 4 - Mespinoza
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Ransomware Trends & Data Insights: October 2026
Although Akira once again emerged as the most active ransomware group in October, overall ransomware and extortion activity was not dominated by any single threat group and instead remained widely distributed among a variety of threat actors, continuing the trend that began around August. Arete identified 31 unique named threat groups in October, the most observed in a single month so far in 2026. In addition to Akira, Settra, and The Gentlemen were among the three most active groups. Several new threat actors also emerged, including BYOD, Kubera Team, QWCrypt, AoQin, Emperador, Osiris Team, and Cinder, with Cinder assessed as possibly part of a threat actor cluster affiliated with the former BlackFile group.
Figure 1. Activity from the top 10 threat groups in October 2026
Throughout the month, analysts at Arete identified several trends behind the threat actors perpetrating cybercrime activities:
PHP2Shell emerged as one of the most significant threats in October, with increasing exploitation of the critical PHP vulnerabilities CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619. Other notable vulnerabilities included CVE-2026-104286 affecting FortiMail, and CVE-2026-102255, a critical pre-authentication Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability affecting SonicWall SMA1000 appliances, highlighting continued threat actor interest in internet-facing enterprise infrastructure.
International law enforcement operations against cybercriminal groups continued to make headlines in October. German authorities announced the arrest of 28-year-old Russian national Vladimir K., suspected of being a senior operator within the Qilin Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) group. Separately, the FBI arrested an individual with suspected links to ShinyHunters, adding to recent law enforcement activity targeting ransomware and extortion groups, including the disruption of KillSec. While Vladimir K.’s arrest has not yet had a notable impact on Qilin’s operational activity, it could provide law enforcement with greater insight into the group’s infrastructure and affiliate network, potentially supporting further disruption efforts.
In early October, “The Luna Moth Files” exposed several files containing alleged internal communications associated with Luna Moth, also known as Silent Ransom Group, revealing insights into the group’s social engineering, data extortion, and victim negotiation operations. However, several claims remain unverified, and the exposure has not notably disrupted the group’s activity thus far, as it was among the top threat actors Arete observed throughout the month.
Sources
Arete Internal
Article
PHP2Shell Exploitation Update
PHP2Shell exploitation activity continues to increase globally, with threat actors targeting the critical PHP remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619. Researchers recently identified low-volume scanning targeting unpatched or partially mitigated hosts across multiple countries and sectors, and the activity is assessed with moderate confidence as linked to a Korean-speaking operator associated with the Lazarus Group ecosystem. While PHP2Shell (CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619) has been patched in PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, and 8.2.35, the separately identified CVE-2026-115560 remains unpatched.
What’s Notable and Unique
PHP2Shell vulnerabilities can cause memory corruption due to improper error handling, potentially allowing threat actors to achieve remote code execution on vulnerable PHP servers.
Observed activity includes mass scanning, PHP environment fingerprinting, exploitation attempts, credential and secret theft attempts, and attempts to deliver second-stage payloads and malware.
Successful in-the-wild exploitation has also been reported against honeypots, resulting in shell command execution and the retrieval of additional payloads, demonstrating the potential for follow-on malicious activity.
Mitigations
Organizations should prioritize upgrading internet-facing PHP deployments to patched versions, migrating unsupported PHP versions, updating embedded and containerized PHP runtimes, and implementing available Web Application Firewall (WAF) protections as a temporary defense-in-depth measure.
Analyst Comments
PHP2Shell poses a significant security concern due to its potential to enable unauthenticated remote code execution on vulnerable PHP servers. The progression from mass scanning and exploitation attempts to reports of successful command execution demonstrates the potential for these vulnerabilities to support initial access and subsequent malicious activity. Arete has been closely monitoring PHP2Shell exploitation activity and regularly reviewing and updating related indicators to support detection and blocking efforts. Given the potential for remote exploitation and follow-on activity, PHP2Shell represents a high-priority initial-access risk, emphasizing the importance of timely patching and remediation of affected PHP environments.
Sources
PHP shares mitigation for new RCE vulnerability with no patch
PHP2Shell Exploitation Attempts Continue Amid Suspected N. Korea Global Scanning Activity
PHP2Shell Exploit Attempts Hit Millions as Attackers Try to Deploy Mirai Malware
Advisory: PHP2Shell Vulnerabilities (CVE-2026-109618, CVE-2026-109619)
Article
LiteLLM Supply-Chain Compromise
A software supply-chain attack compromised the release pipeline of LiteLLM, a widely used open-source Python SDK and AI gateway. Attackers leveraged the compromised pipeline on October 21st to publish a malicious LiteLLM version through PyPI and associated Docker registries. The affected release, LiteLLM 1.107.0, contained malware designed to steal credentials, sensitive configuration data, private keys, browser information, and other secrets from compromised systems.
What’s Notable and Unique
The incident is particularly significant because LiteLLM provides a common API for applications to interact with AI models from multiple providers. It is reported that the project had approximately 61,800 GitHub stars and 92 million monthly PyPI downloads.
Rather than modifying the core LiteLLM application source code, the threat actors reportedly tampered with the installation package itself. The malware was designed for broad credential and information theft and encrypted the collected data before uploading it to the attacker's endpoint.
The compromise went beyond one-time credential theft. A malicious Python component launched a detached loader that checked a GitHub-hosted pointer every hour and could download Python code from an external server for execution on the compromised machine. This provided threat actors with a mechanism for subsequent remote code execution.
Analyst Comments
Although the malicious packages were subsequently removed, simply uninstalling or deleting the affected LiteLLM package may not be sufficient, because malicious Python startup files or the detached loader could remain on the host. All exposed information should be rotated immediately, and infected systems should be isolated and rebuilt from clean backups. The most recent clean release prior to the attack, LiteLLM 1.106.2, is currently the suggested recovery version.
Sources
LiteLLM release pipeline hacked to distribute info-stealer malware
LiteLLM 1.107.0 Compromised: Python Startup Hooks Steal Cloud, AI, and Proxy Credentials
The Collector Reaches Beyond Provider API Keys
Article
French Supermarket Cyberattack Highlights Risks in Exposed Refrigeration Controllers
Hundreds of French supermarkets were reportedly affected by a cyberattack in which threat actors compromised internet-connected refrigeration controllers and manipulated temperature and defrost settings, which caused refrigeration units to overheat, resulting in widespread food spoilage and significant financial loss. Impacted refrigeration systems were associated with Danfoss, Copeland, and Dixell, and demonstrated how vulnerabilities in industrial control systems (ICS) can disrupt physical operations without relying on conventional data theft or encryption. The attack also raised concerns about the wider exposure of similar devices, as thousands of refrigeration management interfaces remain accessible from the public internet. The incident highlights the growing risk posed by insecure operational technology (OT), particularly where legacy equipment and remote-management interfaces lack adequate security controls.
What’s Notable and Unique
Researchers identified approximately 2,765 internet-accessible Danfoss AK-SM 800A interfaces during assessment. This figure reflects the scope of that research and should not be interpreted as a current count of exposed devices. Publicly accessible management interfaces increase the opportunity for unauthorized access to industrial equipment.
Research also identified several security flaws in the Danfoss AK-SM 800A platform, including an authentication bypass command injection that could enable remote code execution and a weakness involving web-server configuration changes. Danfoss addressed these findings through firmware updates.
Authorities reported compromised Danfoss AK-SM and AK-SC systems, alongside Copeland XWEB and Dixell XWEB monitoring platforms.
Analyst Comments
The incident demonstrates the business consequences of insufficiently secured industrial infrastructure and reinforces the need to integrate OT security into enterprise risk management. Organizations operating connected facility systems should establish clear ownership of industrial assets, enforce secure remote-access policies, and prioritize remediation based on exposure and operational criticality. The findings also highlight the importance of coordinating security teams with facilities and engineering personnel to ensure that protective measures do not compromise essential operations. A risk-based approach to OT security can help organizations reduce exposure while maintaining the availability and reliability of critical equipment.
Sources
France Supermarket Hacks Expose Risks of Internet-Facing Refrigeration Systems
Freeze the Controller, Defrost the Food: Uncovering Vulnerabilities in Danfoss Refrigeration Controllers
Attackers Heat French Supermarket Fridges Up to 50°C by Hijacking Danfoss Controllers