Disclosure context

About shadowbyt3$

ShadowByt3$ is an emerging ransomware group that was first observed in February 2026, appearing to be financially motivated based on its ransomware operations. The group's country of origin and any potential affiliations with other cybercriminal organizations remain unknown due to limited intelligence available on this newly identified threat actor. Given the minimal public documentation available, the group's attack methodology, tools, and operational tactics have not been sufficiently analyzed or reported by major cybersecurity firms or government agencies. No notable campaigns, high-profile victims, or significant ransoms have been publicly documented by CISA, FBI, Mandiant, or other reputable security researchers, with only one known victim reported to date and no specific sector targeting patterns identified. The current operational status of ShadowByt3$ remains unclear due to the limited intelligence available on this recently emerged and relatively unknown ransomware operation. The group has been linked to 7 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on February 25, 2026; most recent post May 14, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

May 14, 2026Stride Learning listed by shadowbyt3$on the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Education sector, which has 694 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, Stride Learning is reported in US, a country with 2,713 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

Stride, Inc.

listed as Stride Learning · Claimed by shadowbyt3$ · listed 6 days ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
May 14, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: shadowbyt3$
Status: Data leaked
Country: US
Sector: Education
Listed on leak site: May 14, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Stride, Inc. (NYSE: LRN) is a publicly traded, fully remote education company headquartered in Reston, Virginia, that has operated for more than two decades. It provides lifelong learning solutions through a portfolio of brands including K12, K12 Tutoring, Tallo, MedCerts, and Tech Elevator, serving students from elementary school through adult workforce training. The company delivers online and technology-enabled education programs across the United States.

Industry: Online & Technology-Enabled Education Services
Address: Reston, Virginia, United States
Employees: 1001-5000
Founded: 2000

Attack summary

Severity: high — Stride is a publicly traded company (NYSE: LRN) serving K-12 students and adult learners; its systems likely contain large volumes of minors' PII, student records, and financial data. The disclosed status is 'data_published', indicating confirmed exfiltration and public release of data, which elevates severity even without explicit itemisation of data categories.

The group 'shadowbyt3$' claims to have attacked Stride, Inc., demanding $500,000 in Bitcoin or Monero, and states that because the ransom was not paid, data has been published ('data_published' status). The post does not specify whether encryption, exfiltration, or both occurred, nor does it detail what categories of data were stolen.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Unspecified company data (leaked post-non-payment)

What the group claims

Stride Learning Should've Paid the ransom. We were only asking $500,000 in bitcoin or monero it's not that hard. This is a warning to all companies that if you don't pay it will get leaked. If you pay you have are word that it's deleted also with a picture before and after. If you want we will also take a video.

Sources

Victim sitestridelearning.com

Source

Indexed 6 days 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.