SafePay Ransomware: What You Want To Know

What’s the SafePay ransomware?

SafePay is a comparatively new ransomware risk that was first noticed round September 2024. Like different ransomware, SafePay encrypts victims’ recordsdata in order that they can’t be accessed, after which calls for the cost of a cryptocurrency ransom for his or her restoration. As a part of a “double extortion” tactic, the hackers behind SafePay additionally steal information from affected organisations and threaten to publish it on their darkish net leak web site if a ransom will not be paid.

What makes SafePay uncommon?

Most trendy ransomware gangs function a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) mannequin, the place associates are allowed to deploy the ransomware in return for a proportion of the proceeds they handle to extort. Nevertheless, SafePay doesn’t function like this. As a substitute, it seems to not provide itself to associates, however as an alternative the identical group develops and deploys the ransomware themselves reasonably than relying upon others. 

Certainly, a banner on SafePay’s darkish net leak web site says:

SAFEPAY RANSOMWARE HAS NEVER PROVIDED AND DOES NOT PROVIDE THE RAAS

Why would they not function as a ransomware-as-a-service mannequin? Aren’t they turning their again on plenty of money?

Whereas it’s true that SafePay could also be closing the door on affiliate revenue, it does provide the advantage of higher operational safety and tighter management of how its ransomware is used.

Fascinating. So, why is SafePay within the information?

A lately revealed risk report launched by safety specialists at NCC Group revealed that SafePay was at present essentially the most energetic ransomware group. Within the month of Could 2025 alone, 70 ransomware assaults have been linked to Safepay, accounting for 18% of the full.

In a sign of the ransomware group’s elevated exercise, this was the primary time that SafePay had appeared in NCC Group’s prime 10 listing of risk actors.

What has made SafePay so profitable so rapidly?

The reply to that query will not be clear, however it’s suspected that SafePay could also be intently associated to different infamous ransomware teams, together with LockBit, BlackCat, and INC Ransomware.

In different phrases, the oldsters behind SafePay will not be new to the scene?

Right. If the hyperlinks to different infamous ransomware gangs are discovered to be true, it will imply that these are cybercriminals who’re skilled in extorting cash out of their victims, and have the sources to make a major impression.

Which corporations have been hit by SafePay?

UK telematics enterprise Microlise, which presents car monitoring providers to the likes of DHL and Serco, revealed that it had been hit by ransomware in October 2024, and was one in every of SafePay’s first publicised victims after the theft of 1.2TB of knowledge. Different victims have included a North Carolina anatomic pathology lab, which was breached in January 2025 in an assault that noticed the theft of info associated to over 200,000 sufferers, together with names, birthdates, addresses, medical health insurance particulars, and medical therapy information.

Is not any-one protected from being hit by SafePay ransomware?

Properly, truly, sure, some individuals are. The SafePay ransomware is programmed to test the language settings of the pc it’s working on, and if it spots the system is working any of the next languages, it is going to instantly cease working with out inflicting any injury: If the system language matches any specified languages, the malware will instantly terminate. A whole listing of languages checked could be seen under:

• Armenian
• Azerbaijani (Cyrillic)
• Belarusian
• Georgian
• Kazakh
• Russian
• Ukrainian

Why would the ransomware wish to do this?

Two instantly causes bounce to thoughts. One is, for example, that the ransomware doesn’t wish to rely – say – Russian firms amongst its unintended victims, in worry that native regulation enforcement businesses would possibly come after it.

Is smart. What different purpose may there be?

Properly, perhaps the ransomware authors’ themselves run computer systems that are configured to make use of these languages. They’d hardly wish to turn into unintended victims of SafePay themselves, would they?

I assume not. So, how can my enterprise defend itself from the SafePay ransomware? I do not assume it will be sensible to alter the language settings of all our PCs to Russian.

SafePay is thought for breaking into organisations through the use of stolen VPN or RDP credentials. It has not been reported to have used phishing strategies regularly seen in lots of different ransomware assaults. Due to this fact, organisations that fear they is perhaps focused could be smart to implement multi-factor authentication on all distant entry factors, disable unused RDP or VPN entry totally, and use IP allowlists or geofencing the place doable. As well as, we advocate all corporations comply with our common recommendation for defending in opposition to ransomware assaults, which incorporates suggestions akin to:

• Making safe off-site backups.
• Working up-to-date safety options and making certain that your computer systems are protected with the newest safety patches in opposition to vulnerabilities.
• Utilizing hard-to-crack distinctive passwords to guard delicate information and accounts, in addition to enabling multi-factor authentication.
• Encrypting delicate information wherever doable.
• Decreasing the assault floor by disabling performance that your organization doesn’t want.
• Educating and informing workers concerning the dangers and strategies utilized by cybercriminals to launch assaults and steal information.

Editor’s Observe: The opinions expressed on this and different visitor writer articles are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially mirror these of Tripwire.