The Gentlemen

THREAT ACTOR PROFILE

The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen is a financially motivated ransomware-as-a-service operation active since July 2025 that runs dual-extortion attacks across Windows, Linux and ESXi. It is known for moving from initial access to full network encryption in under 24 hours, disabling EDR and backups first, and for a custom toolset that includes the TukTuk C2 framework and the blockchain-controlled EtherRAT.

Country:

Not attributed

Ransomware

First seen

2025

Latest IOC

IP indicators

Hosts

SHA256 hashes

Posts

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

The Gentlemen and Storm-2697

The Gentlemen is tracked under its own brand and a Microsoft storm designation. It maps to one entry among the ransomware operators we track, and its RaaS model overlaps with other affiliate-driven crews like RansomHub.

GROUP PROFILE

Fast, defense-disabling dual extortion

The Gentlemen is a RaaS operation built for speed and impact. It steals data and encrypts systems in the same intrusion, and its affiliates are known for neutralizing security tooling and backups before deploying the encryptor, leaving victims little time to react.

Our record ties it to ransomware and dual extortion. Sophos documented intrusions that moved from initial access to full encryption in under 24 hours, entering through exposed firewall management interfaces and unpatched devices.

The group's tradecraft spans a custom TukTuk C2 framework, EDR-killer tools, the EtherRAT backdoor that resolves C2 from an Ethereum smart contract, and standard offensive tooling like Cobalt Strike, Sliver and MimiKatz.

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

Exposed devices into sub-24-hour encryption

The stages below come from The Gentlemen 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

TukTuk, EtherRAT and EDR killers

Initial Access

CVES EXPLOITED

Edge-device and hypervisor flaws

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.

CVE-2026-21509

RECENT {{name}} IOCS

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.

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NOTABLE CAMPAIGNS

TukTuk, EtherRAT and sub-24-hour encryption

Recent reporting tracks the group's tooling and speed.

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.

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Track {{name}} across campaigns, IOCs and infrastructure

This page shows a sample of recent indicators and recent campaigns. Sign up free to pivot through