A new ransomware actor known as The Gentlemen has quickly become one of the most concerning groups to emerge in 2025. Their tactics show how quickly modern attackers can bypass traditional defenses and leave businesses with no real options for recovery.
The group uses a dual extortion model that both encrypts and exfiltrates data, then threatens to leak stolen files to force payment. The source article from CyberSecurityNews, titled "The Gentlemen Ransomware Group with Dual Extortion Strategy Encrypts and Exfiltrates Data," details exactly how dangerous this operation has become.
This is not just another ransomware story. It is a warning about the limits of detect and respond security tools and why businesses must shift to isolation and containment if they want real protection.
The Rise of The Gentlemen Ransomware Group
According to the CyberSecurityNews report, The Gentlemen ransomware group has quickly escalated its activity, listing 48 victims between September and October 2025. The group operates as a Ransomware as a Service operation, meaning core developers handle infrastructure while affiliates conduct intrusions. This creates a scalable and distributed threat that can target organizations across many sectors.
Their attacks begin with a focus on stealth. The malware is built to function on Windows, Linux and ESXi environments. The encryption methods include strong algorithms such as XChaCha20 and Curve25519, making unauthorized decryption virtually impossible. Once inside a network, attackers use techniques such as WMI, PowerShell remoting and UNC paths to spread across systems.
The most concerning detail from the CyberSecurityNews article is the group's deliberate effort to disable security controls. They tamper with real time protection settings, firewall configurations and Windows network discovery. They also wipe logs, disable Defender features and destroy forensic evidence. This leaves defenders without visibility, without alerts and without the ability to respond.
Traditional tools that rely on indicators, signatures or behavioral alerts struggle in these conditions. When security tools are disabled before detection triggers, the business is already in crisis.
Why Detect and Respond Fails Against Threats Like This
Many organizations still rely on a detect and respond security model, believing that if something malicious happens, their tools will notify them and give them time to respond. The Gentlemen ransomware group exposes the flaw in this thinking.
Detect and respond assumes the defender sees the attack. That assumption is no longer safe.
The Gentlemen ransomware actors specifically target visibility systems. When they disable endpoint protection, shut down alerting systems, alter Group Policies or wipe event logs, they prevent responders from seeing the attack at all. By the time anyone notices something is wrong, encryption may be complete and sensitive data may already be in an attacker controlled archive.
Even backups are no longer a complete safety net. The dual extortion model ensures that stolen data can be used for leverage even if a company refuses to pay and restores systems. This shifts ransomware from a temporary outage problem to an ongoing exposure risk.
Detect and respond is valuable, but it is not a full defense. It cannot stop what it cannot see. Modern attackers know how to blind defenders. The Gentlemen group uses that knowledge effectively.
Why Isolation and Containment Is Now Essential
The only reliable way to stop attacks like this is to prevent malicious actions from executing in the first place. This is where isolation and containment becomes the necessary evolution of cybersecurity.
AppGuard is built on this preventive principle. Instead of scanning for threats or waiting for alerts, AppGuard blocks untrusted actions at the kernel level. It stops processes from executing harmful behavior even if that process is allowed to run. This makes the system resilient to unknown malware, zero day exploits and advanced ransomware groups like The Gentlemen.
AppGuard does not rely on signatures, behavioral analytics or rapid detection. It prevents unauthorized actions by default. This prevents lateral movement, privilege escalation and unauthorized encryption attempts. Even if a phishing email succeeds or a user unintentionally activates a malicious payload, the malware cannot progress.
AppGuard has a proven track record of more than 10 years in enterprise environments and is now available for commercial businesses. It provides the isolation and containment layer that modern ransomware demands.
If organizations continue to depend on detect and respond alone, they will continue to experience catastrophic failure against groups like The Gentlemen.
Final Thoughts and Call to Action
The Gentlemen ransomware group is another clear sign that cybercriminals are evolving faster than traditional defenses. They disable security tools, erase evidence, steal data and encrypt systems before anyone can react. Detect and respond is simply not enough anymore.
This is the moment for business owners to move to a prevention first strategy built on isolation and containment.
If you want to protect your organization from threats like The Gentlemen ransomware group, talk with us at CHIPS about how AppGuard can provide the protection your business needs. AppGuard prevents attacks before they start and removes the advantage these ransomware groups depend on.
Your business deserves a security strategy that keeps you safe even when attackers try to take visibility away. Reach out to CHIPS and let us show you how to move from detect and respond to prevention through isolation and containment.
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