County Government Reportedly Paid $1 Million to Cyber Extortion Group
A government entity in the US reportedly paid a $1 million ransom to the Kairos cyber extortion group to prevent the public dissemination of information stolen in a May 2025 intrusion, Ransom-ISAC reports.
A leaked negotiation transcript shows that the extortion group demanded $3 million in cryptocurrency from the victim organization, but eventually settled for $1 million.
Kairos claimed to have stolen over 2 terabytes of data, or approximately 1.6 million files, after accessing the victim’s environment in a brute-force attack.
During the three-week negotiation, the victim increased its offer from $100,000 to $430,000, but eventually accepted a hard deadline and the $1 million ransom, which was paid in Bitcoin on June 13.
The attackers pressured the victim with public exposure, while maintaining control of deadlines and proof-of-access artifacts.
“The affected entity’s responses are consistent with an organization buying time while legal, leadership, financial, and communications decisions were coordinated,” Ransom-ISAC...
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