Learn how the Breachsense breach tracker finds and verifies ransomware attacks before official disclosures.
• The tracker indexes victims from ransomware leak sites, often weeks before companies publicly disclose the breach
• Each entry goes through verification to confirm the victim’s identity and attack details before publication
• “Date Discovered” means when attackers posted the victim, not when the breach happened. The actual intrusion is usually weeks earlier
• The public tracker shows who got hit, while the full Breachsense platform shows what specific data was exposed
The Breachsense breach tracker tracks over 23,500 ransomware attacks and extortion incidents. It’s updated daily as attackers post new victims to their leak sites.
Most breach trackers don’t explain where their data comes from. You’re left guessing whether entries are verified or just rumors pulled from social media.
This page explains exactly how the tracker works. You’ll see what sources we monitor, how incidents get verified, what each field means, and what makes it into the tracker.
If you’re evaluating breach data quality or need to cite your intelligence sources, this is for you.
The Breachsense breach tracker is a public feed of ransomware attacks and extortion incidents. Each entry is a company that attackers have publicly claimed as a victim.
A data breach tracker monitors and records confirmed data breach incidents. It shows you which companies were attacked and which criminal group claimed responsibility. Security teams use trackers to spot vendor breaches before official disclosures.
This isn’t a breach-checking tool or a static data breach database. It’s a ransomware tracker that shows which companies attackers have claimed as victims, and who did it.
Security teams use the tracker for early warning. When a vendor appears on a ransomware leak site, you can assess your exposure immediately. That’s often weeks before the vendor sends you a breach notification. With 60% of breaches involving stolen credentials or a human element, early detection matters.
The tracker pulls from several source categories. Here’s what feeds into it and why each matters.
This is the primary source. Ransomware gangs run Data Leak Sites (DLS) where they post victims who haven’t paid the ransom. We monitor these sites continuously.
The tracker covers major groups like LockBit and Cl0p, plus dozens of smaller operations. When a gang posts a new victim, our monitoring picks it up. You can browse tracked groups on our ransomware gangs page.
Not all data theft involves ransomware encryption. Some criminal groups steal data and extort companies without deploying ransomware at all. These groups announce victims on Telegram channels and dark web forums.
The tracker includes these extortion-only incidents too. If a criminal group publicly claims to have your data, we add the incident to the tracker.
SEC filings and state attorney general notifications provide secondary confirmation. Government portals like the HHS Breach Portal publish healthcare breaches, but they lag behind. Companies take an average of 241 days to identify and contain a breach (IBM’s 2025 Cost of Data Breach Report).
Regulatory filings help us fill in details on existing entries. They confirm the victim’s identity and sometimes reveal the full breach scope.
Every entry goes through a verification process before it appears on the tracker. Here’s how that works.
Discovery. Automated monitoring detects new victim postings on attacker leak sites. This runs continuously, not on a schedule.
Verification. Each posting gets cross-referenced against company information. We confirm the victim’s identity matches the domain and description. This catches cases where attackers list a subsidiary or use an outdated company name.
Classification. Verified incidents get tagged with structured data: attacker name, discovery date, victim description. Leak size gets added when available.
Publication. The entry goes live on the tracker with all confirmed details. If information is missing, the entry publishes with “Unknown” fields that get updated later.
This process filters out unverified rumors. If an attacker claims a victim but the evidence doesn’t check out, it doesn’t make the tracker.
Each entry on the tracker includes specific fields. Here’s what each one means.
A ransomware leak site is a website run by a ransomware gang where they post stolen data from victims who don’t pay the ransom. These sites are the primary way attackers pressure companies into paying. They’re also where security teams first learn about many breaches.
Victim. The targeted company or domain. This identifies who was attacked.
Attacker. The ransomware gang or extortion group that claimed the attack. You can see which groups are most active on the ransomware gangs page.
Date Discovered. When the entry appeared on the attacker’s leak site. This is not when the attack happened. The actual intrusion usually occurred weeks or months earlier.
Description. A brief summary of the victim organization. This helps you quickly identify whether the company is relevant to your supply chain.
Leak Size. Volume of data claimed or confirmed by the attacker. This is often unknown early on and gets updated as more details surface.
You should know what gets in and what doesn’t.
Included:
Excluded:
The tracker covers incidents where an attacker publicly posted a victim. If a breach only shows up in an SEC filing or state AG report, it won’t appear here.
Monitoring runs 24/7. New entries typically appear within hours of an attacker posting a victim.
That timing matters. Approximately 11 breaches are publicly disclosed every day. But official company disclosures lag behind by weeks or months. The tracker catches attacks at the source, when criminals first announce them.
Historical entries also get updated. When an attacker releases more data or confirms leak sizes, we update the existing entry. If an attacker retracts a claim, that gets noted too.
The public tracker and the full Breachsense platform serve different purposes.
The tracker shows which companies were hit. It’s a free, public ransomware tracker you can use to check if your vendors appeared on leak sites.
The platform goes deeper. It provides continuous dark web monitoring and indexes stolen credentials from breaches and stealer logs. You can search for your domain to find exposed passwords and session tokens. It also indexes leaked files from ransomware attacks with full-text search, so you can check if your company’s data appears in a vendor’s breach. Plus it covers infostealer channels and darknet markets where stolen data gets sold.
Here’s how they connect: if a company appears on the tracker, the platform can show what specific data was exposed. The tracker tells you who was attacked. The platform tells you what leaked.
For continuous monitoring, the platform sends real-time alerts when your credentials surface. You can also run a dark web scan for a quick check of your current exposure.
The Breachsense breach tracker gives security teams early access to ransomware activity. It monitors attacker leak sites directly and verifies incidents before publishing. Entries get updated as new information surfaces.
Key takeaways:
If you want continuous monitoring for your company and vendors, check out Breachsense data breach monitoring or run a dark web scan to see your current exposure.
New entries typically appear within hours of attackers posting victims to their leak sites. That’s usually weeks before the company makes an official disclosure.
Yes. The tracker covers extortion attacks and data theft claims posted by criminal groups. It’s not limited to ransomware encryption events.
Attackers don’t always disclose data volumes right away. We update entries as more information becomes available. Early entries often have unknown leak sizes.
The tracker shows which companies were hit by ransomware groups. The Breachsense platform goes deeper. It indexes the leaked data as well as stolen credentials from third-party breaches and stealer logs so you can search for your exposed data.
Yes. The Breachsense platform sends real-time alerts when your company or your vendors appear on ransomware leak sites. You can set up monitoring for specific domains.
Use the dark web scan tool. It checks your email or domain against stolen credentials from breaches and stealer logs. The tracker and the scan serve different purposes.
The tracker monitors ransomware gang leak sites and extortion group channels where attackers announce victims. See the full methodology above for details on each source type.
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