Summary
Today, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, Department of Health and Human Services, and international partners, released an updated joint Cybersecurity Advisory, #StopRansomware: Akira Ransomware , to provide network defenders with the latest indicators of compromise, tactics, techniques, and procedures, and detection methods associated with Akira ransomware activity. This advisory reflects new findings as of Nov. 13, 2025, highlighting Akira ransomware’s evolution and continued threat to critical infrastructure sectors. Akira ransomware threat actors, associated with groups such as Storm-1567, Howling Scorpius, Punk Spider, and Gold Sahara, have expanded their capabilities, targeting small and medium-sized businesses as well as larger organizations across sectors including Manufacturing, Educational Institutions, Information Technology, Healthcare, Financial, and Food and Agriculture. Initial Access : Threat actors exploit vulnerabilities in edge devices and backup servers, such as authentication bypass, cross-site scripting, buffer overflow, and compromise credentials through brute-force techniques. Discovery : Threat actors use command line techniques to accomplish network and domain discovery.