Disclosure context

About Metaencryptor

Metaencryptor is a relatively new ransomware group that emerged in August 2023, operating with primarily financial motivations and targeting organizations across multiple sectors and geographical regions. The group appears to be an independent operation rather than a Ransomware-as-a-Service model, though limited public documentation makes definitive attribution challenging regarding their specific country of origin or connections to established cybercriminal networks. Based on their targeting patterns, Metaencryptor demonstrates a preference for manufacturing organizations, business services, and transportation/logistics companies, with their operations concentrated primarily in Western nations including Germany, the United States, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. With 31 documented victims since their emergence, the group represents a moderate but persistent threat in the ransomware landscape. However, due to their recent emergence and relatively lower profile compared to major ransomware families, comprehensive technical analysis of their attack methodologies, encryption techniques, and specific initial access vectors has not been extensively documented by major cybersecurity firms or government agencies. The group's current operational status remains active as of available intelligence, though the limited public reporting suggests they operate with a smaller scale and lower visibility than prominent ransomware-as-a-service operations that typically attract more attention from law enforcement and security researchers. The group has been linked to 31 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on August 16, 2023; most recent post June 24, 2025. The operation is currently inactive.

Timeline of this disclosure

November 1, 2023TANATEX Chemicals listed by Metaencryptoron the group's public leak site

Ransom demanded: $117M

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Manufacturing sector, which has 2,458 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, TANATEX Chemicals is reported in Netherlands, a country with 54 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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TANATEX Chemicals

Claimed by Metaencryptor · listed 3 years ago

$117M

Ransom

demanded

31m

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Nov 1, 2023
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Metaencryptor
Status: Data leaked
Country: Netherlands
Sector: Manufacturing
Listed on leak site: Nov 1, 2023
Ransom demanded: $117M
Estimated revenue: $117M

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

TANATEX Chemicals is a Dutch specialty chemicals company focused on developing and producing textile chemicals for use in textile processing, including pre-treatment, dyeing, printing, coating, and finishing. Operating for approximately 60 years, the company serves brands, dyehouses, and mills globally through a worldwide network of offices and distributors. It is a subsidiary of Transfar Chemicals.

Industry: Textile Chemicals Manufacturing
Address: Netherlands (specific street address not stated)
Founded: 1966

Attack summary

Severity: high — Data has been published (not merely listed), indicating confirmed exfiltration of business data from an international specialty chemicals manufacturer. While no regulated PII or critical-infrastructure data is explicitly confirmed, the data_published status and scale of the organisation elevate this above medium.

The Metaencryptor group claims to have compromised TANATEX Chemicals and has published data (disclosed status: data_published); the leak post references the company's 2022 revenue of $117M, which appears to represent the ransom demand figure rather than a confirmed payment. No specific data volume or encryption details are stated in the post.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Corporate financial data
Business records

What the group claims

TANATEX Chemicals is an international organisation that sells, develops, and produces chemicals for the textile industry. The company have been leading innovative solutions for textile processing for almost 60 years. It has worldwide network of offices and distributors, support customers all over the world.Revenue: $117M Year 2022

Sources

Source

Indexed 3 years 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.