Description Summary
Royal ransomware was first observed in September 2022, formed by experienced operators with prior ties to Conti Team 1. It uses partial (intermittent) encryption — encrypting only a configurable percentage of file content for speed. Royal does not operate a public affiliate program. The group is widely believed to have rebranded to BlackSuit in mid-2023.
Threat Actor
Closed group of former Conti members. Initial access via callback phishing (BazarCall-style), RDP, and exposed services.
Technical Indicators
Encryption Extension
.royal / .royal_w
Encryption Algorithm
AES-256 + RSA-2048 (intermittent/partial encryption)
Ransom Note Name
README.TXT
Targeted Industries
Healthcare, Manufacturing, Communications, Education, Critical infrastructure
First Seen
September 2022
Last Seen
Mid-2023 (rebranded to BlackSuit)
Geographical Location
United States, Brazil, North America, Europe
MITRE ATT&CK Matrix
| Tactic | TTP | Technique Name |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Access x 4 | T1566 | Phishing |
| T1190 | Exploit Public-Facing Application | |
| T1078 | Valid Accounts | |
| T1566 | Phishing (Callback / BazarCall) | |
| 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 4 | T1486 | Data Encrypted for Impact |
| T1490 | Inhibit System Recovery | |
| T1489 | Service Stop | |
| T1486 | Partial Encryption |