Disclosure context

About Royal

Royal is a financially motivated ransomware group that emerged in November 2022, quickly establishing itself as a significant threat with over 200 documented victims across multiple sectors. The group is believed to operate independently rather than as a ransomware-as-a-service model, though their exact country of origin remains unclear based on publicly available intelligence. Royal primarily gains initial access through phishing campaigns and exploitation of remote desktop protocols, subsequently deploying custom ransomware that encrypts victim files while exfiltrating sensitive data for double extortion tactics. The group has demonstrated a preference for targeting critical infrastructure and public services, with notable attacks against educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and government entities primarily in the United States, though they have also significantly impacted organizations across Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. Their encryption methodology involves custom-built malware that systematically encrypts files while maintaining persistence on compromised networks. As of recent reporting from federal agencies including CISA and FBI advisories, Royal remains an active threat with ongoing campaigns targeting organizations across their preferred sectors, particularly focusing on entities with limited cybersecurity resources that may be more likely to pay ransom demands. The group has been linked to 211 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on November 4, 2022; most recent post July 19, 2023. The operation is currently inactive.

Timeline of this disclosure

June 9, 2023PENNCREST School District listed by Royalon the group's public leak site

Data size: 164 GB

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Education sector, which has 694 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, PENNCREST School District 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

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PENNCREST School District

Claimed by Royal · listed 3 years ago

164 GB

Data size

35m

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Jun 9, 2023
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Royal
Status: Data leaked
Country: United States
Sector: Education
Listed on leak site: Jun 9, 2023
Data size: 164 GB

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

PENNCREST School District is a public K-12 school district located in Saegertown, Pennsylvania, serving students across multiple communities including Cambridge Springs, Maplewood, and Saegertown. The district operates several elementary and junior/senior high schools, as well as a cyber academy. Its mission centers on providing resources and support to develop lifelong learners.

Industry: K-12 Public Education
Address: 18741 State Highway 198, Saegertown, PA 16433

Attack summary

Severity: critical — The attack involves confirmed exfiltration of PII for minors (students) and staff at scale (164 GB), along with financial records from a public educational institution, with data_published status indicating the data has been or is being released publicly.

The Royal ransomware group claims to have exfiltrated 164 GB of data from PENNCREST School District, stating they will publish all obtained data. The group asserts the stolen data includes personal information of students and employees, as well as detailed financial data.

critical

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Student personal information
Employee personal information
School financial data

What the group claims

PENNCREST School District provides resources and opportunities that challenge students, assess their educational progress, provide a system of support and empower all to become confident lifelong learners. This organization like many other does not hold student information in safe. We are going to upload everything we got from them here soon. Personal information of students and employees as well as schools' financial data are pretty detailed. Everything is of 164GB.Stay in touch!

Sources

Victim sitepenncrest.org
Leak posthttp://royal4ezp7xrbakkus3oofjw6gszrohpodmdnfbe5e4w3og5sm7vb3qd.onion/A7ibkPDQHLyD6NQgsDBbIu01doSeXJxv

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.