Description Summary
Everest is a ransomware and data-extortion group active since December 2020. It frequently sells stolen data to third parties when victims do not pay, operating more as a pure data-extortion brand than a high-volume encryption operator. Researchers have linked Everest to the BlackByte and Everbe 2.0 lineages.
Threat Actor
Russian-speaking actor with possible BlackByte/Everbe links.
Technical Indicators
Encryption Extension
.EVEREST
Encryption Algorithm
AES + RSA
Ransom Note Name
readme.txt
Targeted Industries
Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Education
First Seen
December 2020
Last Seen
Active — now data-only extortion (leak site defaced 2025 but continued)
Geographical Location
United States, Latin America, Europe
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 |