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Operator dossier

ZaWoo is a ransomware operator currently active on public leak sites. Darkfield has indexed 16 public victims claimed by this operator between August 30, 2026. ZaWoo is a ransomware group first observed in August 2026 with an apparent financial motivation, having claimed at least 16 known victims across a relatively short operational window. The group's country of origin and potential affiliations with established threat actors or ransomware-as-a-service ecosystems have not been publicly attributed by CISA, the FBI, Mandiant, or other reputable security research organizations at this time, leaving its operational structure largely uncharacterized in open-source intelligence. Based on available victimology data, ZaWoo has demonstrated a targeting pattern favoring the Technology, Manufacturing, and Professional Services sectors, with additional intrusions recorded against Retail and E-Commerce entities, suggesting opportunistic selection of mid-market organizations likely to possess both sensitive data and financial resources sufficient to meet ransom demands. The group's geographic targeting has spanned Germany, Canada, Austria, Brazil, and the United States, indicating either a broad opportunistic reach or the use of access brokers supplying footholds across multiple regions. No specific tools, initial access vectors, encryption methods, or extortion tactics have been publicly documented for ZaWoo by authoritative sources, and no major high-profile campaigns, record ransom demands, or law enforcement actions against the group have been publicly recorded to date. Given its recent emergence and limited public profile, ZaWoo should be regarded as an emerging threat actor warranting continued monitoring, though definitive technical or attribution assessments remain pending further research and disclosure.

Most-targeted sectors

Most-affected countries

Recent disclosures by ZaWoo

All 16 indexed disclosures. Click any row for the full per-victim dossier.

See every disclosure indexed for ZaWoo →

How we know this. Operator profiles on Darkfield are built from continuous monitoring of every leak site the group is known to operate, cross-correlated with community-curated feeds (RansomLook, ransomware.live, RansomWatch, MISP-galaxy). Status flips from active to inactive when no new disclosure appears for 60 days. MITRE ATT&CK mappings shown in the interactive section below are sourced from CISA, vendor analysis, and the MITRE community catalog — we attribute each technique back to its source. Aliases reflect operator re-brands and affiliate splits.

Active ransomware operator

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ZaWoo

16 victims indexed · first seen 21 hours ago · last activity 21 hours ago

16
Victims indexed
#198 of 396 tracked operators
<1m
Active period
Aug 2026 → Aug 2026
7
Countries hit
top DE · 10

At a glance

Status
active
First seen
21 hours ago
Last activity
21 hours ago
Primary sector
Technology · 4 hits

About

ZaWoo is a ransomware group first observed in August 2026 with an apparent financial motivation, having claimed at least 16 known victims across a relatively short operational window. The group's country of origin and potential affiliations with established threat actors or ransomware-as-a-service ecosystems have not been publicly attributed by CISA, the FBI, Mandiant, or other reputable security research organizations at this time, leaving its operational structure largely uncharacterized in open-source intelligence. Based on available victimology data, ZaWoo has demonstrated a targeting pattern favoring the Technology, Manufacturing, and Professional Services sectors, with additional intrusions recorded against Retail and E-Commerce entities, suggesting opportunistic selection of mid-market organizations likely to possess both sensitive data and financial resources sufficient to meet ransom demands. The group's geographic targeting has spanned Germany, Canada, Austria, Brazil, and the United States, indicating either a broad opportunistic reach or the use of access brokers supplying footholds across multiple regions. No specific tools, initial access vectors, encryption methods, or extortion tactics have been publicly documented for ZaWoo by authoritative sources, and no major high-profile campaigns, record ransom demands, or law enforcement actions against the group have been publicly recorded to date. Given its recent emergence and limited public profile, ZaWoo should be regarded as an emerging threat actor warranting continued monitoring, though definitive technical or attribution assessments remain pending further research and disclosure.

Timeline

1 months
2026-08-01T00:00:00+00:00 · 16
2026-08-01T00:00:00+00:002026-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

Top countries

🇩🇪 Germany
10
🇨🇦 Canada
1
🇦🇹 Austria
1
🇧🇷 Brazil
1
🇺🇸 United States
1
🇳🇿 New Zealand
1
🇨🇿 Czechia
1
Germany dossier →Canada dossier →Austria dossier →Brazil dossier →

Top sectors

Technology
4
Manufacturing
3
Professional Services
3
Retail & E-Commerce
2
Hospitality
1
Technology dossier →Manufacturing dossier →Professional Services dossier →Retail & E-Commerce dossier →

MITRE ATT&CK

13 techniques · 7 tactics

Tactics

Initial AccessExecutionDefense EvasionDiscoveryCollectionExfiltrationImpact

Techniques

  • T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application
  • T1566Phishing
  • T1059Command and Scripting Interpreter
  • T1047Windows Management Instrumentation
  • T1562Impair Defenses
  • T1070Indicator Removal
  • T1082System Information Discovery
  • T1083File and Directory Discovery
  • T1486Data Encrypted for Impact
  • T1490Inhibit System Recovery
  • T1657Financial Theft
  • T1041Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
  • T1005Data from Local System

Recent victims

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Source

Updated 21 hours ago

Data on this page is sourced from the group's own leak posts, cross-checked with public ransomware trackers (RansomLook, ransomware.live, RansomWatch), MITRE ATT&CK, and our own Tor and Telegram crawlers. This is a public observatory page — share freely.

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