✉️info@mh-service.de | 📞+49 (7275) 9692380
Contact EN DE
Active leak site · Double extortion · Multi-industry victims

Chaos Ransomware – Threat, Tactics & Incident Response

Chaos is a ransomware group that runs a public data leak site and has claimed dozens of victims worldwide, with a focus on technology, financial services, logistics, construction and manufacturing. Attacks typically involve system encryption, data theft and pressure via staged data releases.

Call 24/7 Hotline Request Incident Response Support
10+ years ransomware incident response EU-based digital forensics & IR team Experience with Chaos, Akira, Qilin & others
Chaos ransomware leak site (example)

Example of a ransomware leak site used to publish stolen data (illustrative; customer data anonymised).

Group
Chaos ransomware
Activity
Dozens of victims listed on public leak site (2024–2025)
Main sectors
Technology, finance, logistics, construction, manufacturing
Region focus
Primarily US, but also Europe and Asia

Executive summary

What is Chaos ransomware?

Chaos is a cyber extortion group that compromises corporate networks, steals sensitive data and encrypts systems. Victims are listed on a leak portal where samples of stolen information are published to increase pressure.

Who is at risk?

Victims span a broad range of sectors – from cloud and software providers to logistics operators, construction firms and manufacturers. Many targets provide critical services or handle high volumes of personal or financial data.

Why does Chaos matter?

Even a single successful attack can cause weeks of disruption, regulatory scrutiny, contractual penalties and reputational damage. Chaos leverages staged data leaks and threats of public exposure to push for payment.

Chaos ransomware group profile

General characteristics

  • Type: double-extortion ransomware with public leak site
  • Victims: at least 25–30 organisations publicly named so far
  • Geography: strong focus on the United States, but also Germany, Sweden, Poland and others
  • Impact: data theft, encryption, downtime and reputational damage

Public sources suggest that Chaos is still evolving. Tactics, infrastructure and tooling may change over time, so keeping detection logic up to date is essential.

Victim sectors & patterns

  • Technology and software companies
  • Financial and insurance services
  • Transportation, logistics and container ports
  • Construction and engineering firms
  • Manufacturing and industrial suppliers

Many victims operate complex IT/OT environments or supply-chain critical services, making them attractive targets for disruptive ransomware attacks.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

The following IOCs have been associated with Chaos campaigns in public reporting. They should be treated as starting points for threat hunting – not as exhaustive or solely reliable detection mechanisms.

Network indicators

  • IP address: 144.172.103.42
  • IP address: 45.61.134.36
  • IP address: 107.170.35.225

These addresses have been observed in connection with Chaos infrastructure. They may change quickly – always combine with current threat intelligence.

File hashes (samples)

Example hashes linked to Chaos binaries or loaders in public IOCs: 

MD5:
  160f60dc3fc9920cfc3847de4de2ef09
  9113f4b245da32c75d61b467ee89e0b7
  87fd821b67a1f329548f222d81a55be7

SHA-256:
  7c4b465159e1c7dbbe67f0eeb3f58de1caba293999a49843a0818480f05be14e
  11cfea4100ba3731d859148d2011c7225d337db22797f7e111c0f2876e986490
  1d846592ffcc19ed03a34316520aa31369218a88afa4e17ac547686d0348aa5b

Always verify hashes against your own feeds and detection platforms. Over time, Chaos actors may rotate payloads and obfuscation techniques.

MITRE ATT&CK mapping (example)

Exact TTPs vary between incidents, but Chaos operations largely follow a “classic” playbook used by many enterprise ransomware groups:

  • Initial Access: T1078 Valid Accounts, T1133 External Remote Services (VPN, RDP, remote access tools)
  • Execution: T1059 Command & Scripting Interpreter (PowerShell, cmd.exe)
  • Persistence: T1547 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution (services, scheduled tasks)
  • Privilege Escalation: T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
  • Defense Evasion: T1562 Impair Defenses (AV/EDR tampering, log clearing)
  • Credential Access: T1003 OS Credential Dumping
  • Discovery: T1087 Account Discovery, T1018 Remote System Discovery
  • Lateral Movement: T1021 Remote Services (RDP/SMB/WinRM)
  • Collection & Exfiltration: T1119 Automated Collection, T1041 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
  • Impact: T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact, T1490 Inhibit System Recovery

For real-world cases we map observed events to ATT&CK techniques to structure detection engineering, reporting and lessons learned.

Detection & telemetry

Infrastructure & runtime view

  • Suspicious processes: encryption tools or unknown binaries spawned from remote login sessions or admin tools.
  • Shadow copy / backup tampering: commands that remove recovery options (e.g. VSS manipulation).
  • Unusual network connections: outbound traffic to newly seen IPs or VPS providers shortly before data encryption.
  • Endpoint security alerts: detection of credential dumping tools, offensive frameworks or remote access utilities.

Logs, leak site & data exposure

  • Authentication logs: anomalous login patterns, new accounts or privilege escalation shortly before impact.
  • Data exfiltration: large transfers from file servers, backups or databases to external destinations.
  • Leak site monitoring: monitoring of Chaos leak portals and threat intel feeds for mentions of your organisation.
  • Correlation: linking suspected exfiltration events with later leak site listings and extortion emails.

Recommended actions & hardening

1. Immediate steps if Chaos activity is suspected

  • Isolate affected systems and critical servers from the network – avoid “panic shutdowns” that destroy evidence.
  • Preserve logs, EDR telemetry, firewall exports and key system images for forensic analysis.
  • Identify business-critical services, backups and regulatory obligations (e.g. data protection, sector regulators).

2. Hardening & prevention

  • Enforce strong authentication and MFA for VPN, RDP, remote admin tools and cloud management consoles.
  • Segment critical infrastructure (AD, backup, OT, crown-jewel applications) and restrict lateral movement paths.
  • Harden backup systems and ensure at least one copy is offline or logically separated from the main domain.
  • Regularly test incident response playbooks and backup restores under realistic conditions.

3. Forensics & longer-term improvements

  • Conduct structured forensics to determine initial access, attacker dwell time and scope of data theft.
  • Map findings to ATT&CK to prioritise monitoring gaps, configuration weaknesses and process issues.
  • Translate lessons learned into concrete projects (identity security, logging, EDR coverage, network architecture).

What we focus on in the first 72 hours of a Chaos incident

The first three days of a Chaos ransomware incident are crucial. Our established playbook helps you regain control, keep stakeholders informed and prepare for safe recovery.

Hour 0–4

Rapid triage & containment

Scope the incident, stabilise key systems and guide you through safe isolation steps while preserving evidence for later analysis.

Hour 4–24

Forensic acquisition & attacker reconstruction

Acquire logs, endpoint data and key system images. Reconstruct the attacker timeline, including initial access, lateral movement and exfiltration.

Day 2–3

Recovery planning & decision support

Develop a phased recovery plan, including options with and without decryption, and provide input for executive, legal and communications decisions.

Negotiation, communication & resilience

Many organisations contact us when they have already received a ransom note or seen their name on a Chaos leak site. Even in these situations, structured external support can make a significant difference.

  • Validation of attacker claims about the volume and sensitivity of stolen data.
  • Technical input for legal counsel, data protection officers and regulators.
  • Support for negotiation strategy, including coordination with insurance, where applicable.
  • Planning for long-term security improvements after the incident.

FAQ for internal & customer communication

“Is Chaos ransomware mainly a data leak or also encryption?”

Chaos uses a classic double-extortion model: in most cases both encryption and data theft are involved. Some victims are listed on the leak site even when operations have partially recovered, to maintain pressure.

“Can we restore without paying?”

In many incidents, recovery from backups and reinstallation is technically possible. The key questions are: how much data has been exfiltrated, how robust are your backups, and what regulatory or contractual obligations apply.

“How do we communicate with customers and regulators?”

Communication should be aligned with the technical facts: what was accessed, what was encrypted, what is known and what is still under investigation. We work closely with legal and PR teams to support consistent, fact-based messaging.

“Can you coordinate with our insurer and legal counsel?”

Yes. We regularly work alongside cyber insurance providers and law firms. Our role is to provide a defensible technical picture and support risk-based decisions around recovery and potential negotiations.

How we can support you with Chaos ransomware

As a specialised DFIR team, we support organisations through all phases of a Chaos ransomware incident – from first triage to secure rebuild:

  • Remote triage & scoping: quick understanding of impact, affected systems and data.
  • Forensics & threat hunting: in-depth reconstruction of attacker activity and dwell time.
  • Recovery & hardening: secure rebuild, backup validation and architecture improvements.
  • Detection engineering: SIEM, EDR and network detection use cases tailored to Chaos-style attacks.

Next steps for interested organisations

  1. Briefly scope your situation (symptoms, business impact, time of first signs).
  2. Provide core facts: environment, critical systems, backup status, current controls.
  3. Agree the priorities for the next 24–72 hours and a longer-term hardening roadmap.

On request, we provide lightweight checklists for Chaos-style ransomware readiness (identity security, backups, detection coverage, incident exercises) that your team can use internally.