Disclosure context

About chaos

Based on the limited publicly available information, Chaos is a recently emerged ransomware group that was first observed in March 2025, appearing to be financially motivated given their ransom demands and targeting patterns. The group's origin and specific affiliations remain unclear due to their recent emergence, though their operational model and whether they operate as Ransomware-as-a-Service or as an independent entity has not been definitively established by security researchers. Their attack methodology and specific technical capabilities are not yet well-documented in public threat intelligence reports, though their targeting suggests they employ common initial access vectors to compromise victims across multiple sectors. Chaos has claimed 41 victims primarily concentrated in the United States, Germany, Poland, Malaysia, and Sweden, with a particular focus on technology companies, financial services, business services, and manufacturing sectors, though the scope and impact of their most significant attacks have not been widely publicized. The group currently appears to be active based on recent victim claims, though comprehensive analysis from major security firms regarding their long-term operational capabilities and potential law enforcement actions remains limited due to their recent emergence in the threat landscape. The group has been linked to 53 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on March 31, 2025; most recent post May 17, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

March 6, 2026nelsonworldwide.com listed by chaoson the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Business Services sector, which has 2,640 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, nelsonworldwide.com is reported in United States, a country with 7,392 ransomware disclosures in our corpus.

How we know this. Darkfield monitors public ransomware leak sites continuously, archiving every new disclosure and the data later released against the victim. Each entry on this page is sourced from the operator's own publication and cross-checked against complementary OSINT feeds (RansomLook, ransomware.live, RansomWatch). We do not collect or host stolen data — only the metadata, timestamps and screenshots needed to make the public disclosure searchable and accountable. Records here are corrected when the original post is edited, retracted, or merged with another disclosure.

Ransomware victim disclosure

← All victims

NELSON Worldwide

listed as nelsonworldwide.com · Claimed by chaos · listed 3 months ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Mar 6, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: chaos
Status: Data leaked
Country: United States
Sector: Business Services
Listed on leak site: Mar 6, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

NELSON Worldwide is a US-based award-winning firm offering architecture, interior design, graphic design, environmental branding, and brand strategy services. The firm serves clients across sectors including healthcare, hospitality, retail, workplace, civic, and industrial markets. It operates across multiple US locations and has delivered projects for clients such as Shake Shack, Broward Health, and Prologis.

Industry: Architecture, Interior Design & Brand Strategy
Employees: 501-1000

Attack summary

Severity: high — Data has been confirmed as published by the threat actor, indicating successful exfiltration of business data from a professional services firm that likely holds sensitive client project files, contracts, and proprietary design materials for high-profile clients including healthcare and government facilities.

The Chaos ransomware group claims an attack on NELSON Worldwide and has published data ('data_published' status), though the leak post does not specify whether encryption, exfiltration, or both occurred, and no ransom amount or data size was stated.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Business documents
Client project files
Design and architectural assets
Internal communications

What the group claims

NELSON Worldwide is an award-winning firm delivering architecture, interior design, graphic design, and brand strategy services that transform all dimensions of the human experience, providing our clients with strategic and creative solutions that positively impact their lives and the environments w…

Sources

Source

Indexed 3 months ago

This page surfaces a public ransomware disclosure indexed by Darkfield. Original posts come from the operator's own leak site; we cross-check against ransomware.live, RansomLook and RansomWatch where applicable. Share this URL freely.