Nearly 60,000 Bitcoin addresses linked to LockBit’s ransomware operations have been exposed following a major breach of the group’s dark web affiliate panel.
The leak, which included a MySQL database dump, was shared publicly online and could assist blockchain analysts in tracing LockBit’s financial activity instead of leaving such transactions untracked.
Despite the scale of the breach, no private keys were leaked. A LockBit representative reportedly confirmed the incident in a message, stating that no sensitive access data was compromised.
However, the exposed database included 20 tables, such as one labelled ‘builds’ that contained details about ransomware created by affiliates and their targeted companies.
Another table, ‘chats,’ revealed over 4,400 messages from negotiations between victims and LockBit operators, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of ransomware extortion tactics.
Analysts believe the hack may be connected to a separate breach of the Everest ransomware site, as both featured identical messages, hinting at a possible link.
The incident has again underscored the central role of cryptocurrency in the ransomware economy. Each victim is typically given a unique address for payments, making tracking difficult.
Instead of remaining hidden, these addresses now give law enforcement and blockchain experts a chance to trace payments and potentially link them to previously unidentified actors.
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