✉️info@mh-service.de | 📞+49 (7275) 9692381
Contact EN DE
Active double-extortion ransomware · Global victims

AlphaLocker Ransomware – Threat Profile & Incident Response

AlphaLocker is an active double-extortion ransomware group that steals and encrypts data before publishing victims on a Tor-hosted leak site. Public leak data shows victims across the United States, Europe and other regions, with a focus on business services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing and energy.

Call 24/7 Incident Hotline Request Incident Response Support
24/7 incident hotline 10+ years DFIR & ransomware cases EU-based digital forensics & IR team

Key facts at a glance

Group name
AlphaLocker
Status
Active ransomware group
Observed victims
≈ 30 victims listed on leak site
Activity period
First victim: Jan 2024
Latest victim: Nov 2025
Primary sectors
Business & professional services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, energy
Top countries
US, UK, Italy, Thailand, Brazil and others
Extortion model
Data theft + encryption (double extortion)
Leak site (Tor)
mydatae2d63il5oaxxangwnid5loq2qmtsol2ozr6vtb7yfm5ypzo6id.onion

Figures above are based on publicly indexed leak data and may lag behind the real number of victims.

Threat overview & typical attack chain

What is AlphaLocker?

AlphaLocker is a modern double-extortion ransomware operation: attackers first gain access to victim networks, exfiltrate large volumes of data and then deploy file encryption. Victims are pressured through operational outages and the threat of public data leakage on a Tor-hosted “mydata” site.

Who is targeted?

Leak-site entries show organisations mostly in business services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing and energy, with a global footprint but a strong focus on the United States and Western Europe. Both SMEs and larger enterprises appear among listed victims.

Why does it matter?

Even “single” incidents often involve hundreds of GB of stolen data, including contracts, customer databases and financial documents. Beyond the direct IT outage, AlphaLocker cases can trigger far-reaching regulatory, contractual and reputational consequences.

Typical attack chain (high-level)

  1. Initial access: Compromise of internet-facing services, VPN access with weak or reused credentials, or abuse of exposed remote management interfaces.
  2. Privilege escalation & discovery: Use of credential dumping tools and system discovery commands to map domain structure, file servers and backup systems.
  3. Lateral movement: RDP, SMB and remote management tools to move between servers and workstations, often combined with domain-wide account abuse.
  4. Data collection & exfiltration: Staging of large volumes of data on internal servers, followed by exfiltration to attacker-controlled infrastructure before any encryption is triggered.
  5. Encryption & extortion: Ransomware deployment (often in a coordinated wave), disabling of shadow copies/backups, and publication of the victim on the leak site if negotiations fail.

The exact tooling and techniques vary per case; the pattern above reflects common behaviours seen in many double-extortion incidents, including AlphaLocker-style attacks.

Indicators of compromise & suspicious activity

At the time of writing, there are no public, curated IoC sets (hashes, domains, YARA rules) officially published for AlphaLocker. However, defenders can still hunt for characteristic traces of data-theft-plus-encryption intrusions.

Host & identity perspective

  • Sudden appearance of new local admin accounts or privilege changes for existing service accounts.
  • Evidence of credential dumping tools, LSASS access or suspicious process command lines related to account harvesting.
  • Mass deletion of shadow copies and backups on Windows and backup appliances shortly before encryption events.
  • Large numbers of files being renamed and rewritten in a short timeframe, followed by the creation of ransom notes across many directories.

Network & data perspective

  • Unusual outbound connections from application or file servers to unknown cloud storage / VPS providers, especially over HTTPS or non-standard ports.
  • High-volume SMB traffic between servers that are usually not heavily interconnected (staging of data for exfiltration).
  • Connections to Tor entry nodes or known anonymity-network infrastructure from internal systems that do not normally use Tor.
  • Sudden spikes of compressed archive creation (ZIP, 7z, RAR) in directories containing business-critical data.
Important: Treat all IoC-style detections as starting points. A clean scan does not prove that no compromise occurred – especially when attackers had time to clean up or used bespoke tooling. For high-value environments, combine IoCs with full forensic analysis.

MITRE ATT&CK techniques – typical for AlphaLocker-style intrusions

Public reporting on AlphaLocker’s internal tooling is still limited. The mapping below reflects commonly observed techniques in double-extortion ransomware operations that fit the leaked victim descriptions and known patterns of similar groups.

  • Initial Access: T1078 – Valid Accounts, T1133 – External Remote Services
  • Execution: T1059 – Command and Scripting Interpreter (PowerShell, cmd)
  • Persistence: T1547 – Boot or Logon Autostart Execution
  • Privilege Escalation: T1068 – Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
  • Defense Evasion: T1562 – Impair Defenses (disabling AV/EDR, backup deletion)
  • Credential Access: T1003 – OS Credential Dumping
  • Discovery: T1087 – Account Discovery, T1018 – Remote System Discovery
  • Lateral Movement: T1021 – Remote Services (RDP, SMB, remote tools)
  • Collection: T1119 – Automated Collection of files and shares
  • Exfiltration: T1041 – Exfiltration over C2 or dedicated exfil channels
  • Impact: T1486 – Data Encrypted for Impact, T1490 – Inhibit System Recovery

For concrete mappings in your environment, we recommend correlating internal telemetry with your own incidents and threat-intel feeds rather than relying purely on generic matrices.

Detection & response considerations

Detection & hunting ideas

  • Leak-site monitoring: track new entries on AlphaLocker’s Tor leak site and correlate listed organisations or domains with your own environment and suppliers.
  • Behavioural EDR signals: mass file encryption, shadow copy removal, suspicious use of built-in tools (e.g. vssadmin, wbadmin, powershell.exe) on servers.
  • Network analytics: large outbound transfers from file servers, particularly towards destinations not seen in the baseline, and spikes in SMB traffic.
  • Identity anomalies: successful logons from unusual locations/devices, dormant accounts suddenly logging into many systems, or unusual MFA behaviour.

First response steps (high-level)

  • Stabilise & contain: isolate affected systems or segments, cut unnecessary external access and preserve volatile artefacts (memory, logs).
  • Evidence preservation: avoid reimaging or wiping systems until key forensic data is secured. Document every change you make.
  • Business impact assessment: identify critical systems, processes, data sets and third parties impacted by the incident.
  • Legal & regulatory view: quickly engage legal counsel and data protection officers to assess notification requirements (e.g. GDPR, NIS2).

A structured approach in the first 24–72 hours significantly increases the chances of successful containment, recovery and compliance with regulatory timelines.

How we support organisations in AlphaLocker cases

As a specialised DFIR provider, we help organisations respond to AlphaLocker and other double-extortion incidents in a structured way:

  • Emergency IR support: remote or on-site triage, scoping, containment planning and evidence preservation.
  • Forensic analysis: reconstruction of the attack path, root-cause analysis, user and system-level timelines.
  • Recovery & hardening: support for safe rebuild, backup restoration validation and security architecture improvements.
  • Reporting & communication: documentation for management, regulators, insurers and – where appropriate – customers.

Next steps if you suspect AlphaLocker

  1. Collect basic facts: what systems are affected, what ransom notes or leak-site references you see, and since when problems occur.
  2. Contact our incident response team via phone or email with a short summary (no sensitive data in the first email).
  3. Together we define immediate containment steps, evidence-preserving procedures and a plan for the first 72 hours.

On request, we can provide lightweight scripts and checklists that help you quickly assess potential AlphaLocker exposure across systems and backups.