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

April 3, 2026Berning & Söhne GmbH listed by AiLockon the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Not Found sector, which has 4,859 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, Berning & Söhne GmbH is reported in DE, a country with 333 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

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Berning & Söhne GmbH

Claimed by AiLock · listed 2 months ago

47d

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Apr 3, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: AiLock
Status: Data leaked
Country: DE
Sector: Not Found
Listed on leak site: Apr 3, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Berning & Söhne GmbH, operating under the brand 'Berning Smart Fasteners', is a German manufacturer with 120 years of experience in the development, production, and application of metal components and fasteners. The company serves multiple sectors including fashion and apparel (buttons, metal accessories) and the automotive industry (airbag components, mirror mounts, interior fittings). It is headquartered in Germany and operates as a mid-sized industrial supplier.

Industry: Metal Fasteners & Components Manufacturing

Attack summary

Severity: medium — Data has been published (not merely listed), indicating confirmed exfiltration; however, no specific sensitive data categories (e.g. PII at scale, financial, medical) are identified, no data volume is stated, and no ransom or proof file count is disclosed, limiting severity to medium.

The AiLock ransomware group claims to have attacked Berning & Söhne GmbH and has published data (disclosed status: data_published), suggesting exfiltration of company data, though no specific data categories, ransom demand, or data volume were stated in the leak post.

medium

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Company business data

What the group claims

Berning Smart Fasteners boasts 120 years of experience in the development, production, and application of metal components and fasteners.

Sources

Victim siteberning-net.de

Source

Indexed 2 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.