Was QualiChem Metalworking hit by ransomware?

QualiChem Metalworking was listed by the Nitrogen ransomware operation (United States), and stolen data was published on the group's leak site. Darkfield tracks this disclosure with the original leak post, screenshot and group context.

Who is the Nitrogen ransomware group?

Nitrogen is a ransomware operator tracked by Darkfield. See the full operator dossier for its known victims, sectors targeted, IOCs and leak-site infrastructure.

What data was leaked in the QualiChem Metalworking breach?

Nitrogen published data attributed to QualiChem Metalworking. Darkfield captured the leak post and a screenshot of the listing.

Ransomware victim disclosure

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QualiChem Metalworking

Claimed by Nitrogen · listed 5 months ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

ListedJan 27, 2026
Data leakeddate unknown

At a glance

Group: Nitrogen
Status: Data leaked
Country: United States
Sector: Manufacturing
Listed on leak site: Jan 27, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

QualiChem Metalworking is a global supplier of metalworking fluids, cleaners, and corrosion inhibitors, founded in 2004 and headquartered in the United States. The company has grown from a small specialty chemical firm into a leading provider of water-dilutable cutting and grinding coolants, straight oils, rust preventatives, metal forming fluids, and related specialty products. It holds ISO 9001-2015 certification and serves industrial customers worldwide.

Industry: Specialty Chemicals – Metalworking Fluids
Founded: 2004

Attack summary

Severity: high — Data has been confirmed published by the threat actor; exfiltration of business-sensitive data from an industrial specialty chemicals company with global operations constitutes a high-severity disclosure, particularly given potential exposure of proprietary formulations and customer/partner information.

The Nitrogen ransomware group has published data related to QualiChem Metalworking as part of a multi-victim leak post, indicating that data has been exfiltrated and disclosed. No ransom amount or specific data volume was stated, but the 'data_published' status confirms data release.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Corporate business data
Potentially proprietary chemical formulations
Customer and partner records
Internal operational documents

What the group claims

QualiChem, Inc. manufactures some of the most advanced metalworking fluids available in the world.

The leak post

captured from the group's site

The world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, whose operations are officially divided into four key segments: consumer electronics, cloud and networking products, computing equipment, as well as components and other products. 
PCCA supports the creation of personalized medicine and innovative products, as well as pharmaceutical compounding. 
One of the leaders in video stream optimization, security, and content monetization. Offers advanced solutions for efficient video delivery across all digital ecosystems. 
TThe company operates in the wholesale trade of engineering materials and equipment.. 
The company specializes in the development, engineering, and manufacturing of various components and systems for the automotive industry and other sectors. 
Specializing in instrumental welding (TIG, Micro TIG, MIG), microlaser welding, laser cladding, laser hardening, laser engraving, stress relieving, and mechanical processing. 
Specializing in the production of structural steel and construction. 
A major manufacturer of art materials for professional artists and designers: acrylic paints, oils, watercolors, pastels and other media/materials. 
AvtechTyee is a company operating in…

Sources

Victim sitequalichem.com
Leak posthttp://nitrogenczslprh3xyw6lh5xyjvmsz7ciljoqxxknd7uymkfetfhgvqd.onion/posts/6978df89aa6c2f83ef8de668

Source

Indexed 5 months 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.

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Disclosure context

About Nitrogen

**Nitrogen** is an emerging ransomware group that first appeared in September 2024, operating with apparent financial motivations through targeted extortion campaigns primarily focused on North American and European organizations. The group has claimed responsibility for attacks against 46 documented victims across multiple sectors, with manufacturing companies representing their most frequent targets. Limited public information suggests the group operates independently rather than as a Ransomware-as-a-Service model, though their specific country of origin and potential affiliations with other cybercriminal organizations remain undetermined by major security research firms. Their attack methodology appears to focus on opportunistic targeting across diverse industries including manufacturing, business services, technology, and hospitality sectors, with the United States serving as their primary area of operations followed by significant activity in Canada, Portugal, India, and France. Due to the group's recent emergence and relatively low profile compared to established ransomware families, detailed technical analysis of their encryption methods, data exfiltration practices, and initial access vectors has not been extensively documented by major threat intelligence providers such as CISA, FBI, or Mandiant. Given the group's recent formation in September 2024, no major high-profile campaigns or significant law enforcement actions have been publicly reported, with their victim portfolio consisting primarily of small to medium-sized enterprises rather than critical infrastructure or Fortune 500 companies. Nitrogen appears to remain active as of current reporting, though their limited operational history and relatively small victim count suggest they are still establishing their presence within the broader ransomware ecosystem. The group has been linked to 57 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on September 30, 2024; most recent post June 3, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

January 27, 2026QualiChem Metalworking listed by Nitrogenon the group's public leak site

Other recent disclosures by Nitrogen

Nitrogen has been linked to 57 public victims on Darkfield. A sample of the most recent:

See the full Nitrogen dossier →

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, QualiChem Metalworking is reported in United States, a country with 7,392 ransomware disclosures in our corpus.

If your organisation is affected

A listing by Nitrogen means QualiChem Metalworking appeared on a ransomware extortion site and data attributed to it has been published. If this is your organisation, or a supplier you depend on, the priority is to confirm the intrusion and contain it before the window to act closes.

Engage your incident-response team and preserve forensic evidence before remediating — do not wipe affected systems first.
Force a password reset and revoke active sessions for exposed accounts; rotate any credentials, API keys or certificates that may have been in the stolen data.
Assess regulatory notification duties (GDPR, NIS2, sector regulators) — many carry a 72-hour reporting clock from awareness.
Monitor for the data appearing on Nitrogen's leak site and across paste and breach channels, and brief downstream partners who may be exposed through you.

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.