LockBit

THREAT ACTOR PROFILE

LockBit

LockBit is one of the most prolific ransomware-as-a-service operations of the past five years. Despite a major law-enforcement disruption in 2024, the brand returned with LockBit 5.0 in 2025, a modular build that encrypts Windows, Linux and ESXi systems and runs double extortion through a permissive affiliate program.

Russian-speaking operation

Ransomware (cross-sector)

First seen

2019

Latest IOC

IP indicators

Hosts

SHA256 hashes

Posts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Names and aliases

Group profile

Attack lifecycle

Malware and tooling

IOCs

Notable campaigns

NAMES AND ALIASES

One brand, many versions

LockBit is a brand more than a single team: a core operation that licenses its ransomware to affiliates. The names below map to one entry among the ransomware groups and APTs we track, so a LockBit Black report and a LockBit 5.0 advisory read as one operation.

GROUP PROFILE

A RaaS brand that keeps rebuilding

LockBit runs a ransomware-as-a-service model: the core team builds the encryptor, the data-theft tool and the leak site, and affiliates carry out intrusions in exchange for a cut. Its affiliate rules exclude post-Soviet targets, which points to a Russian-speaking operation.

Our record ties it to ransomware across healthcare, government and many other sectors worldwide. After the 2024 disruption, affiliates scattered to other brands, and some of that talent flowed into operations like Akira.

LockBit's staying power comes from speed and tooling. Its encryptor is fast and heavily obfuscated, it ships Windows, Linux and ESXi builds, and version 5.0 added stronger evasion, a wiper option and a revamped affiliate program.

Facts:

Initial Access

Russian Federation · GRU

Initial Access

Russian Federation · GRU

Initial Access

Russian Federation · GRU

Initial Access

Russian Federation · GRU

Victims reported in our records and posts:

ATTACK LIFECYCLE

Affiliate access into fast, cross-platform encryption

The stages below come from 2023 through 2026 LockBit activity in posts we track on our IOC Hunter feed.

Initial Access

Spear-phishing remains the front door. In the 2026 campaign Hunt.io tracked as Operation Neusploit, APT28 sent convincing spear-phishing from already-compromised government accounts and abused a Microsoft Office security bypass (CVE-2026-21509) to kick off a fileless chain. A separate June 2026 cluster delivered the LameHug malware through spear-phishing ZIP archives using double-extension lures.

Initial Access

MALWARE AND TOOLING

The LockBit encryptor, StealBit and sideloading

Initial Access

CVES EXPLOITED

Citrix Bleed for session hijacking

CVE-2026-21509

A Microsoft Office security bypass used to open the fileless chain in Operation Neusploit, and again in the PixyNetLoader intrusion chain. Both campaigns paired the exploit with spear-phishing from compromised accounts rather than mass exploitation.

LockBit

IOCS FROM HUNT.IO PLATFORM

Latest IOCs

We currently track - IP indicators, - hosts, and - SHA256 hashes for Akira across - intelligence posts, with the most recent indicator dated -. The sample below is limited to indicators from the latest posts. It is not the full set.

Showing a sample of recent indicators

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LockBit

IOC set, full IP, host and hash history.

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Showing a sample of recent indicators

Get the complete

LockBit

IOC set, full IP, host and hash history.

Unlock all the IOCs for Free

NOTABLE CAMPAIGNS

LockBit 5.0 and the Citrix Bleed era

The reporting tracks a brand that absorbed a law-enforcement hit and came back with a new build.

PixyNetLoader tracking

A clustering of roughly 90 loader samples across four sub-families from 2024 to 2026, with steganography and cloud C2, also linking to related APT28 tooling such as SlimAgent and Graphite.

PixyNetLoader tracking

A clustering of roughly 90 loader samples across four sub-families from 2024 to 2026, with steganography and cloud C2, also linking to related APT28 tooling such as SlimAgent and Graphite.

PixyNetLoader tracking

A clustering of roughly 90 loader samples across four sub-families from 2024 to 2026, with steganography and cloud C2, also linking to related APT28 tooling such as SlimAgent and Graphite.

PixyNetLoader tracking

A clustering of roughly 90 loader samples across four sub-families from 2024 to 2026, with steganography and cloud C2, also linking to related APT28 tooling such as SlimAgent and Graphite.