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

May 26, 2023Groupe Sovitrat Interim and Recrutement listed by Royalon the group's public leak site

Data size: 158 GB
Ransom demanded: $10M

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, Groupe Sovitrat Interim and Recrutement is reported in France, a country with 472 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

Groupe Sovitrat Interim and Recrutement

Claimed by Royal · listed 3 years ago

158 GB

Data size

$10M

Ransom

demanded

36m

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
May 26, 2023
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Royal
Status: Data leaked
Country: France
Sector: Business Services
Listed on leak site: May 26, 2023
Data size: 158 GB
Ransom demanded: $10M

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Groupe Sovitrat Interim & Recrutement is a French staffing and recruitment agency headquartered in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The company operates a nationwide network of agencies across regions including Île-de-France, PACA, Hauts-de-France, Occitanie, and others, covering sectors such as industry, BTP, transport, events, and digital. It employs between 101 and 250 people and generates estimated revenues of $10M–$25M.

Industry: Temporary Staffing & Recruitment
Address: 60 cours Gambetta, 69007 Lyon, France
Employees: 101-250

Attack summary

Severity: critical — 158 GB of data has been confirmed published by the threat actor. As a staffing and recruitment firm, Sovitrat holds large volumes of PII at scale — including CVs, identity documents, employment contracts, and personal details of both candidates and placed workers — constituting regulated personal data under GDPR.

The Royal ransomware group claims to have exfiltrated 158 GB of data from Groupe Sovitrat Interim & Recrutement, with the data now published. No explicit mention of encryption is made in the post, but the disclosed status confirms data publication.

critical

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Employee records
Candidate/applicant personal data
HR and recruitment files
Internal business documents
Financial records

What the group claims

Groupe Sovitrat Interim & Recrutement is a company that operates in the Human Resources industry. It employs 101-250 people and has $10M-$25M of revenue. The company is headquartered in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France.Total downloaded data - 158gb

Sources

Victim sitesovitrat.fr
Leak posthttp://royal4ezp7xrbakkus3oofjw6gszrohpodmdnfbe5e4w3og5sm7vb3qd.onion/6PeJzwsMBPun4Q5kuDdJZcGOKGo7HYXf

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.