Disclosure context

About Cuba

The Cuba ransomware group is a financially-motivated cybercriminal organization that emerged in February 2021 and has since conducted attacks against at least 105 known victims globally. The group operates as an independent ransomware operation with suspected ties to Russian-speaking cybercriminals, though their exact country of origin remains unconfirmed by law enforcement agencies. Cuba ransomware operators primarily gain initial access through compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials, exploitation of Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities, and phishing campaigns, subsequently deploying their custom Cuba ransomware payload which encrypts victim files while exfiltrating sensitive data before encryption as part of their double extortion strategy. The group has particularly targeted organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Belgium, with a notable focus on critical infrastructure sectors including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and energy companies. According to FBI reporting, the Cuba ransomware group has demanded ransom payments ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars from their victims. As of recent threat intelligence assessments, the Cuba ransomware group remains active and continues to pose a significant threat to organizations across multiple sectors and geographic regions. The group has been linked to 105 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on February 3, 2021; most recent post February 1, 2024. The operation is currently inactive.

Also tracked as: COLDDRAW, Fidel.

Timeline of this disclosure

December 20, 2022Sae-a listed by Cubaon the group's public leak site

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, Sae-a is reported in South Korea, a country with 32 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

Sae-A Trading Co., Ltd.

listed as Sae-a · Claimed by Cuba · listed 3 years ago

41m

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Dec 20, 2022
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Cuba
Status: Data leaked
Country: South Korea
Sector: Manufacturing
Listed on leak site: Dec 20, 2022

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Sae-A Trading Co., Ltd. is a South Korea-based vertically integrated apparel manufacturer operating across yarn production, fabric mills, and retail. The company is one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world, with significant manufacturing operations in Central America (notably Guatemala and Nicaragua) as well as Asia. It supplies major global fashion brands and retailers.

Industry: Vertically Integrated Apparel & Textile Manufacturing
Employees: 10000+
Founded: 1986

Attack summary

Severity: high — The disclosure status is 'data_published', confirming exfiltration and public release of significant business data from a large multinational manufacturer with thousands of employees across multiple countries.

The Cuba ransomware group claims to have exfiltrated data from Sae-A and has published the data, suggesting both potential encryption and confirmed exfiltration of company information. The specific categories of data at stake have not been fully enumerated in the truncated post.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Business financial documents
Internal corporate communications
Manufacturing and operations data
Employee records

What the group claims

From yarn-production through its fabric mills that draw on in new innovation and technology, to retail operations in Korea, SAE-A has become one of the few apparel manufacturers capable of achieving complete vertical-integration of...

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.