Disclosure context

About AiLock

AiLock is an emerging ransomware group first observed in March 2026 with a primarily financial motivation, having targeted at least 24 known victims across multiple sectors. The group's origin and affiliations remain largely undocumented by major threat intelligence organizations, though their targeting patterns suggest a broad operational scope spanning the United States, Canada, Great Britain, China, and Germany. Based on publicly available information from security researchers, AiLock appears to focus on technology companies, consumer services, manufacturing, and public sector entities, though specific attack methodologies, initial access vectors, and encryption techniques have not been extensively documented by CISA, FBI, or major security firms. The group's relatively recent emergence and limited public documentation suggest they may be a smaller operation or newly formed entity, with no notable major campaigns or high-profile ransoms publicly reported by established threat intelligence sources. Given the March 2026 first observation date and lack of subsequent major public reporting, AiLock's current operational status and capabilities remain largely undetermined by mainstream cybersecurity organizations. The group has been linked to 34 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on March 3, 2026; most recent post May 18, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

May 18, 2026Design Engineering & Consulting listed by AiLockon 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, Design Engineering & Consulting is reported in US, a country with 2,713 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

Design Engineering & Consulting

Claimed by AiLock · listed 3 days ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
May 18, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: AiLock
Status: Data leaked
Country: US
Sector: Business Services
Listed on leak site: May 18, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Design Engineering & Consulting (DEC) is a Richardson, Texas-based engineering and consulting firm specializing in façade system design, curtainwall engineering, shop drawings, and BIM modeling for commercial and retail buildings. Founded over 25 years ago, the company employs 60+ engineers, architects, and drafters and operates from its Texas headquarters plus satellite offices in Portland, China, Mexico, and the Philippines. DEC has completed thousands of curtainwall design projects globally, including on iconic buildings.

Industry: Façade & Curtainwall Engineering Consulting
Address: Richardson, Texas, USA
Employees: 60+

Attack summary

Severity: high — Data is listed as published by the threat actor, indicating confirmed exfiltration and public disclosure of potentially sensitive engineering/business data including proprietary design files, client project documentation, and structural engineering records for high-profile commercial buildings.

The AiLock ransomware group claims to have attacked Design Engineering & Consulting and lists the disclosure status as data_published, indicating exfiltration and/or publication of company data. No specific ransom amount or data volume was stated in the post.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Engineering design files
Shop drawings
BIM models
Project documentation
Business/client records

What the group claims

Design Engineering & Consulting provides façade system design, shop drawings, engineering, and consulting services in a cost – effective and professional manner across the world.

Sources

Victim sitedecusa.com

Source

Indexed 3 days 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.