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, 2023Haworth Tompkins listed by Royalon the group's public leak site

Data size: 100 GB

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Construction sector, which has 415 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, Haworth Tompkins is reported in United Kingdom, a country with 902 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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Haworth Tompkins

Claimed by Royal · listed 3 years ago

100 GB

Data size

36m

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
May 26, 2023
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Royal
Status: Data leaked
Country: United Kingdom
Sector: Construction
Listed on leak site: May 26, 2023
Data size: 100 GB

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Haworth Tompkins is a Stirling Prize-winning architectural studio based in London, UK, with an international reputation for intelligent and purposeful design. The studio works across a broad range of project types including housing, cultural venues, theatres, and masterplanning, with notable projects including The Liverpool Everyman, National Theatre, and various London regeneration schemes. It operates internationally, with projects in the UK, Austria, Sweden, and Australia.

Industry: Architecture & Architectural Design
Address: 110 Golden Lane, London, EC1Y 0TL, United Kingdom
Employees: 51-200

Attack summary

Severity: high — 100 GB of confirmed exfiltrated data has been published, representing significant business and potentially sensitive client/employee data from a well-known architectural firm handling major public and private sector projects.

The Royal ransomware group claims to have exfiltrated approximately 100 GB of data from Haworth Tompkins, with the disclosed status indicating the data has been published. No ransom amount was stated.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Internal business documents
Project files and design data
Potentially client and contract records
Potentially employee personal data

What the group claims

Haworth Tompkins is a Stirling Prize-winning architectural studio with an international reputation for intelligent, purposeful design.Total downloaded data - 100gb

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.