Akira, one of the most active ransomware operations this year, has expanded its capabilities and increased the scale of its attacks, according to new threat intelligence shared by global security agencies. The group’s operators have upgraded their ransomware toolkit, continued to target a broad range of sectors, and sharply increased the financial impact of their attacks.
Data collected from public extortion portals shows that by the end of September 2025 the group had claimed roughly 244.17 million dollars in ransom proceeds. Analysts note that this figure represents a steep rise compared to estimates released in early 2024. Current tracking data places Akira second in overall activity among hundreds of monitored ransomware groups, with more than 620 victim organisations listed this year.
The growing number of incidents has prompted an updated joint advisory from international cyber authorities. The latest report outlines newly observed techniques, warns of the group’s expanded targeting, and urges all organisations to review their defensive posture.
Researchers confirm that Akira has introduced a new ransomware strain, commonly referenced as Akira v2. This version is designed to encrypt files at higher speeds and make data recovery significantly harder. Systems affected by the new variant often show one of several extensions, which include akira, powerranges, akiranew, and aki. Victims typically find ransom instructions stored as text files in both the main system directory and user folders.
Investigations show that Akira actors gain entry through several familiar but effective routes. These include exploiting security gaps in edge devices and backup servers, taking advantage of authentication bypass and scripting flaws, and using buffer overflow vulnerabilities to run malicious code. Stolen or brute forced credentials remain a common factor, especially when multi factor authentication is disabled.
Once inside a network, the attackers quickly establish long-term access. They generate new domain accounts, including administrative profiles, and have repeatedly created an account named itadm during intrusions. The group also uses legitimate system tools to explore networks and identify sensitive assets. This includes commands used for domain discovery and open-source frameworks designed for remote execution. In many cases, the attackers uninstall endpoint detection products, change firewall rules, and disable antivirus tools to remain unnoticed.
The group has also expanded its focus to virtual and cloud based environments. Security teams recently observed the encryption of virtual machine disk files on Nutanix AHV, in addition to previous activity on VMware ESXi and Hyper-V platforms. In one incident, operators temporarily powered down a domain controller to copy protected virtual disk files and load them onto a new virtual machine, allowing them to access privileged credentials.
Command and control activity is often routed through encrypted tunnels, and recent intrusions show the use of tunnelling services to mask traffic. Authorities warn that data theft can occur within hours of initial access.
Security agencies stress that the most effective defence remains prompt patching of known exploited vulnerabilities, enforcing multi factor authentication on all remote services, monitoring for unusual account creation, and ensuring that backup systems are fully secured and tested.
