- Google’s Threat Intelligence team links BlackFile (now Redact) to phishing and extortion attacks on major hedge funds and law firms
- Group impersonates IT staff by phone, steering victims to spoofed login pages to steal SaaS credentials and tokens, then exfiltrates sensitive data
- Targets include Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, CME Group, and firms like Paul Hastings; Google tracked $10.7 million flowing into 18 crypto wallets between January–May 2026
Some of the biggest US hedge funds and law firms have been targeted by a highly sophisticated data breach and extortion campaign, conducted by a group of criminals previously known as BlackFile, experts have warned.
BlackFile (or Redact, as the group is now calling itself) has a relatively simple modus operandi, also used by ShinyHunters – they call their targets on the phone (usually employees with access to SaaS systems), identify as IT staff, and direct victims to convincing, lookalike login pages designed to steal their credentials and authentication tokens.
Once they gain access to victims’ accounts, the attackers access enterprise SaaS environments (for example, Microsoft 365 and Okta) and use automated tools to exfiltrate sensitive data. In the last step, they notify the victims and threaten to leak the data on the dark web unless a ransom is paid.
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Stealing millions
Since a part of the process is to navigate the victims to spoofed login pages, the criminals often register domain names that can easily be confused for legitimate ones.
That is also a good way to spot who the potential victims are, and according to a new report from Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (TGIT) team, these are some of the biggest names in the finance industry: Blackstone, KKR & Co, Apollo Global Management Inc, and CME Group Inc.
Apart from these names, a few law firms were also spotted, including Paul Hastings LLP and Greenberg Traurig LLP. However, none of these confirmed having been breached, and Greenberg Traurig told Reuters they were never targeted in the first place.
The group seems to be making quite the progress. In April and May, they registered a new phishing domain every 2.2 days, rising to every 1.6 days for June and July. It’s paying off, too.
In the 18 cryptocurrency wallets Google associates with the group and tracks, around $10.7 million was received between January and mid-May 2026.
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