Description Summary
8base emerged publicly in March 2022 but stayed relatively quiet until a surge of activity in mid-2023 made it one of the most active leak-site operators of that period. Researchers determined that 8base uses a Phobos-based encryptor and overlaps significantly with the RansomHouse cartel in terms of leak-site copy and ransom-note language.
Threat Actor
Phobos affiliate cluster operating their own leak site. Targets have been predominantly small and mid-sized businesses.
Technical Indicators
Encryption Extension
.8base / .id[<ID>].[<email>].8base
Encryption Algorithm
AES-256 + RSA (Phobos engine)
Ransom Note Name
info.txt / README.html
Targeted Industries
Business services, Manufacturing, Construction, Finance
First Seen
March 2022
Last Seen
March 2022 – February 2025 — DISMANTLED (Operation Phobos Aetor)
Geographical Location
United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Australia
MITRE ATT&CK Matrix
| Tactic | TTP | Technique Name |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Access x 3 | T1566 | Phishing |
| T1190 | Exploit Public-Facing Application | |
| T1078 | Valid Accounts | |
| Execution x 1 | T1059 | Command and Scripting Interpreter |
| Execution Persistence x 1 | T1053 | Scheduled Task/Job |
| Defense Evasion x 2 | T1562.001 | Disable or Modify Tools |
| T1070.004 | File Deletion | |
| Discovery x 2 | T1083 | File and Directory Discovery |
| T1082 | System Information Discovery | |
| Lateral Movement x 2 | T1021.001 | Remote Services: RDP |
| T1021.002 | SMB/Windows Admin Shares | |
| Exfiltration x 2 | T1041 | Exfiltration Over C2 Channel |
| T1567.002 | Exfiltration to Cloud Storage | |
| Impact x 3 | T1486 | Data Encrypted for Impact |
| T1490 | Inhibit System Recovery | |
| T1489 | Service Stop |