Another week, another extortion group data-leak site emerges. Cyjax has continued to observe the emergence of data-leak sites (DLSs) for extortion and ransomware groups. New groups FunkSec, ContFR, Argonauts, Kairos, Chort, and Termite appeared in December and November 2024 alone, bringing this year’s total up to 69. On 11 December 2024, Cyjax identified the emergence of a Tor-based DLS belonging to a new data-leak extortion group going by the name ’Bluebox’.

Malware, short for malicious software, refers to any software specifically designed to harm, exploit, or otherwise compromise a device, network, or user data. In today’s digital age, malware attacks have become a persistent threat, targeting individuals, businesses, and even governments.

3AM (also known as ThreeAM) is a ransomware group that first emerged in late 2023. Like other ransomware threats, 3AM exfiltrates victims' data (threatening to release it publicly unless a ransom is paid) and encrypts the copies left on targeted organisations' computer systems.