The Stormous Extortion Gang's Attack on Dynamite

The Stormous extortion gang has attacked Dynamite. Dynamite is a prominent and well-established publishing company within the entertainment and comic book industry. Known for its diverse catalog of titles, the company has gained recognition for producing comic books, graphic novels, and other literary works featuring popular characters, licensed properties, and original creations. The company has garnered a loyal fan base and a solid reputation for delivering engaging storytelling and high-quality artwork across its publications.

Stormous posted Dynamite to its data leak site on July 25th, claiming to have stolen company projects, plans, emails, books, paid designs, ideas, and financial data. Stormous is a ransomware gang first identified in mid-2021. According to a mission statement published by the organization, its objective is to attack targets in the U.S. and other Western nations. However, in 2022, the group added Ukraine and India to this list. Stormous listing countries, not companies, suggests that politics is a primary motivator for the group.

Communication and Operations

Stormous communicates through a Telegram channel and an .onion website. However, conversation on Telegram primarily consists of statements from the group. While the group identifies itself as a ransomware gang, it does not operate as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation, and it's unknown what type of ransomware it may be using in its campaigns.

Motivations and Comparisons

The group's motivations and principles resemble Lapsus$, another ransomware gang that mainly targets Western entities. Both Lapsus$ and Stormous make a lot of noise online, drawing attention to themselves and making flashy, bombastic proclamations of the Dark Web and Telegram.