Disclosure context

About Blackbyte

BlackByte is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation that emerged in October 2021, primarily motivated by financial gain through double extortion tactics targeting organizations across multiple sectors. The group is suspected to operate from Russia or former Soviet states based on their use of Russian-language forums and avoidance of targeting organizations in Commonwealth of Independent States countries, though they maintain no confirmed links to other established ransomware families. BlackByte operators typically gain initial access through vulnerable Microsoft Exchange servers, phishing campaigns, and exploitation of remote desktop protocol (RDP) services, employing tools such as Cobalt Strike for lateral movement and data exfiltration before deploying their custom ransomware payload that uses AES-256 encryption with RSA-2048 key protection. The group has demonstrated particular focus on critical infrastructure sectors, with the FBI and CISA issuing joint advisories in February 2022 highlighting attacks against organizations in government, healthcare, manufacturing, and education sectors, including notable incidents affecting San Francisco's transportation authority and multiple healthcare systems across the United States. BlackByte remains active as of 2024, continuing to evolve their tactics and maintain their leak site for publishing stolen data from victims who refuse to pay ransoms. The group has been linked to 147 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on October 4, 2021; most recent post July 30, 2025. The operation is currently inactive.

Timeline of this disclosure

July 30, 2025Towne Mortgage listed by Blackbyteon the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Financial Services sector, which has 516 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, Towne Mortgage is reported in United States, a country with 7,392 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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Towne Mortgage

Claimed by Blackbyte · listed 10 months ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Jul 30, 2025
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Blackbyte
Status: Data leaked
Country: United States
Sector: Financial Services
Listed on leak site: Jul 30, 2025

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Towne Mortgage is a local mortgage lender founded in 1982 with over 40 years of experience in the mortgage industry. Based in Troy, Michigan, the company specializes in residential purchase and refinance loans, with a community-focused approach including programs for neighborhood rehabilitation and underserved markets.

Industry: Mortgage Lending & Financial Services
Address: 888 W Big Beaver Rd., Suite 310, Troy, MI 48084
Founded: 1982

Attack summary

Severity: high — Mortgage lender with access to customer PII, financial data, and property information at scale. Data published by ransomware operator with no ransom demand suggests data has been publicly exposed. Financial services sector and regulated lending activity elevate sensitivity.

Blackbyte claims to have attacked Towne Mortgage and published data from the breach. The group does not specify whether data was exfiltrated, encrypted, or both, nor does it detail the specific data categories compromised.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Customer loan application records
Personal identifying information
Financial records
Property information

What the group claims

Founded in 1982, The Towne Mortgage Family of Companies has more than 40 years of experience in the mortgage industry. Passionate about our customers, our company and the communities we serve, Towne is actively involved with many non-profit organizations. Our community outreach initiatives are not just a side-effect of our business; they are the heart of it. We are, first and foremost, a local lender. Our commitment extends beyond outreach to the products we offer, including a program specifically designed to aid in the rehabilitation of struggling neighborhoods. So while we have experienced aggressive growth in the past 3 years, we continue to focus on areas often underserved by large, corporate lenders.

Sources

Victim sitewww.townemortgage.com

Source

Indexed 10 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.