Disclosure context

About Kairos

Kairos is a recently emerged ransomware group first observed in November 2024 that appears to be primarily financially motivated, having targeted approximately 75 victims across multiple sectors and countries. The group's origin and potential affiliations remain unclear due to limited public documentation from established threat intelligence sources, and it is unknown whether they operate as a Ransomware-as-a-Service model or as an independent entity. Based on available targeting data, Kairos appears to focus their operations primarily on English-speaking countries including the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and Canada, with additional activity observed in Germany, while their sector targeting spans education, healthcare, agriculture and food production, and business services, though specific attack methodologies, initial access vectors, and encryption techniques have not been publicly documented by major security organizations. Given the group's recent emergence in late 2024, there are no widely reported notable campaigns or high-profile incidents documented by CISA, FBI, or established security research firms. As of current reporting, Kairos appears to remain active based on their recent first observation date, though comprehensive threat intelligence profiles from major security organizations have not yet been published due to the group's nascent operational timeline. The group has been linked to 86 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on November 13, 2024; most recent post May 15, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

December 8, 2025Summitcollege listed by Kairoson 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, Summitcollege 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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Summit College

listed as Summitcollege · Claimed by Kairos · listed 5 months ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Dec 8, 2025
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Kairos
Status: Data leaked
Country: United States
Sector: Education
Listed on leak site: Dec 8, 2025

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Summit College is an accredited vocational school founded in 1991 in Colton, California, providing affordable career-focused education to students in the Inland Empire, Orange County, and San Diego regions. The institution holds national accreditation from the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) and operates campuses in Colton, Santa Ana, El Cajon, and San Bernardino. It is recognized as one of the top vocational schools in the region.

Industry: Vocational & Continuing Education
Address: Colton, California, United States (main campus; additional locations in Santa Ana, El Cajon, and San Bernardino, CA)
Founded: 1991

Attack summary

Severity: high — The disclosure status is 'data_published', confirming exfiltration and public release of data from an educational institution that likely holds significant PII including student records, financial aid information, and staff data, affecting a vulnerable population (students).

The Kairos ransomware group claims to have attacked Summit College and has published data ('data_published' status), indicating exfiltration of company data. The specific nature of encrypted or exfiltrated data has not been detailed in the leak post.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Student records
Employee records
Financial records
Accreditation and institutional documents

What the group claims

Since our founding in 1991, Summit College has provided affordable, quality education to students seeking new paths. We began with one campus in Colton, California, which was quickly approved by the Bureau of Private Post Education. Then, just three years later, in 1994, we received national accreditation from the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (or ACCET). Our three accredited locations give you more options as you seek to elevate your career. What began at the Colton campus has grown and evolved to become one of the top vocational schools in the region. We established an Anaheim branch in 2003, which we recently relocated to our Santa Ana location. In October 2015, our third campus opened, and we are now proud to offer our programs to students from our El Cajon location. In 2020, we opened our new location in San Bernardino. These campuses allow us to serve the entire Inland Empire region, including San Diego and Orange Counties.

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.