Disclosure context

About Arvinclub

Arvinclub is a relatively obscure ransomware operation that emerged in September 2021, primarily motivated by financial gain through extortion activities targeting organizations across multiple sectors. The group's origin and affiliations remain largely undocumented in public threat intelligence reporting, with limited information available from major security vendors or law enforcement agencies regarding their operational structure or whether they operate as a Ransomware-as-a-Service model. Based on available attack data, Arvinclub has demonstrated a diverse geographical targeting approach, with documented victims spanning Colombia, Iran, the United Kingdom, India, and Russia, suggesting either opportunistic targeting or the use of automated attack vectors rather than region-specific campaigns. The group has shown a preference for targeting manufacturing organizations, food and agriculture companies, financial institutions, and educational entities, accumulating approximately 35 known victims since their emergence. Their specific attack methodologies, including initial access vectors, encryption techniques, and data exfiltration practices, have not been extensively documented in public threat intelligence reports from major security firms. No significant high-profile campaigns, major law enforcement disruptions, or notable ransomware demands have been publicly attributed to this group by CISA, FBI, or established security research organizations. The current operational status of Arvinclub remains unclear due to limited public reporting and threat intelligence coverage of this particular ransomware variant. The group has been linked to 35 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on September 9, 2021; most recent post November 6, 2023. The operation is currently inactive.

Also tracked as: Arvin Club.

Timeline of this disclosure

October 8, 2023Islamic Azad University of Shiraz listed by Arvinclubon 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, Islamic Azad University of Shiraz is reported in Iran.

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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Islamic Azad University of Shiraz

Claimed by Arvinclub · listed 3 years ago

31m

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Oct 8, 2023
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Arvinclub
Status: Data leaked
Country: Iran
Sector: Education
Listed on leak site: Oct 8, 2023

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Islamic Azad University of Shiraz is a branch of the Islamic Azad University network, one of the largest private university systems in Iran. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs across various academic disciplines and is located in Shiraz, the capital of Fars Province. As part of the broader IAU system, it serves a significant student and faculty population in the region.

Industry: Higher Education
Address: Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran

Attack summary

Severity: medium — Data is listed as published rather than merely announced, suggesting confirmed exfiltration; however, no details on the type, scale, or sensitivity of the data are available, and no ransom or specific data categories were stated.

The group Arvinclub claims to have obtained and published data belonging to Islamic Azad University of Shiraz, with the disclosure status recorded as data_published. No specific details regarding encryption, exfiltration methods, or the nature of the published data were captured in the leak post.

medium

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

University records (unspecified)

Sources

Victim siteshiraz.iau.ir

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.