Disclosure context

About lockbit5

Based on the provided data, LockBit5 appears to be a recently emerged ransomware operation first observed in December 2025, representing what may be a new iteration or rebrand within the LockBit ransomware ecosystem, with primary financial motivations evidenced by their targeting of high-value sectors. Given the LockBit naming convention and the timing of emergence, this group likely operates from Eastern Europe or Russia and may represent either a continuation of previous LockBit operations or a new affiliate group leveraging the established LockBit brand, though specific organizational details remain undocumented by major security agencies. While detailed attack methodologies have not been publicly documented by CISA, FBI, or major security researchers, the group's targeting pattern across 157 victims suggests a broad-spectrum approach focusing on technology, manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation sectors primarily in the United States, Brazil, Germany, Italy, and Mexico. Due to the group's recent emergence in December 2025, there are no publicly documented notable campaigns or major incidents reported by established threat intelligence sources, though the victim count indicates active operations. The group appears to be currently active based on the recent first observation date, though comprehensive analysis from major security agencies has not yet been published given the short timeframe since emergence. The group has been linked to 252 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on December 7, 2025; most recent post May 12, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

April 26, 2026merlo.de listed by lockbit5on 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, merlo.de 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

← All victims

Merlo Deutschland GmbH

listed as merlo.de · Claimed by lockbit5 · listed 25 days ago

24d

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Apr 26, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: lockbit5
Status: Data leaked
Country: DE
Sector: Not Found
Listed on leak site: Apr 26, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Merlo Deutschland GmbH is the German subsidiary and distributor of Merlo telescopic handlers (Teleskoplader), based in Bremen, Germany. The company offers a range of seven telescopic handler series capable of lifting 2.5 to 12 tonnes to heights of up to 35 metres, along with attachments, used machines, spare parts, and a nationwide service-partner network. It operates a central German spare parts warehouse and a workshop in Bremen.

Industry: Construction & Agricultural Machinery Distribution (Telescopic Handlers)
Address: Ahrensstr. 2, 28197 Bremen, Germany

Attack summary

Severity: medium — Data is listed as published, indicating confirmed exfiltration, but the available post excerpt provides no detail on volume, regulated data categories (PII, financial, medical), or scale of impact; severity cannot be elevated to high or critical without evidence of sensitive regulated data.

LockBit 5 claims to have attacked Merlo Deutschland GmbH, with the disclosure status recorded as data_published, indicating data exfiltration has occurred. The leak post references company content consistent with internal business operations, though specific data categories and volumes have not been enumerated in the available excerpt.

medium

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Business operational data
Internal company documents

What the group claims

Merlo Teleskoplader: von Profis für Profis Teleskoplader für jeden Einsatz – plus Dienstleistung! M...

Sources

Victim sitemerlo.de
Leak posthttp://lockbitapt67g6rwzjbcxnww5efpg4qok6vpfeth7wx3okj52ks4wtad.onion/post/4b7edcbde0f820b818d0f6731345ef62

Source

Indexed 25 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.