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, 2025Lee & Associates listed by Blackbyteon the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Business Services sector, which has 2,640 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, Lee & Associates 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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Lee & Associates

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: Business Services
Listed on leak site: Jul 30, 2025

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Lee & Associates is a commercial real estate services firm founded in 1979 by Bill Lee in Orange County, California. The company operates as a network of independently owned and operated offices across North America, providing brokerage, property management, valuation, asset management, financing, and specialized services across multiple property types including office, retail, industrial, multifamily, and healthcare real estate.

Industry: Commercial Real Estate Brokerage & Services
Address: Orange County, California, United States (headquarters); offices across United States and Canada
Founded: 1979

Attack summary

Severity: low — Post contains only publicly available website text republished by the group; no proof files, screenshots, or specific data inventory disclosed; no confirmation of exfiltration or encryption impact; presentation suggests listing/announcement only.

Blackbyte claims to have compromised Lee & Associates. The leak post reproduces company website content (history and service descriptions) but provides no explicit statement of what data was exfiltrated or encrypted, nor operational impact claims.

low

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Company website content
Business information

What the group claims

In 1979, Bill Lees vision became reality when he opened the first office of Lee & Associates in Orange County, California. Every Lee office is owned and operated by the real estate professionals, all of whom benefit from the sharing of real-time market intelligence that is vital to the delivery of superior commercial real estate services. The unique service platform has attracted some of the most experienced and talented real estate professionals in the industry, all of whom share Bills original vision of superior service through teamwork. Our offices offer a broad array of real estate services tailored to meet the needs of the companys clients in each of the markets it serves. They include commercial real estate brokerage, property management, valuation, asset management and finance. Now the largest firm of its kind in North America, the companys reach extends across the United States and Canada.

Sources

Victim sitewww.lee-associates.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.