Welcoming the ‘Retirement’ of 15 Ransomware Crews or a new Cycle of Extortion?

On the underground forum Breachforums, 15 ransomware groups, including Scattered Spider and Lapsus$, posted a surprising farewell (Bitdefender, 2025). Their message was brief and cryptic: “Silence will now be our strength.”

According to their own narrative, these groups are done with extortion campaigns. They claim their operations were never about profit but about exposing insecure systems. Some say they will now focus on “security research.” Others openly admit they have secured their “golden parachutes” and intend to enjoy the wealth accumulated from years of criminal activity.

Should they be taken at their word? History suggests otherwise. Criminal crews often announce retirements when the heat from law enforcement becomes too strong then rebrand, which so they can vanish under one name and reappear under another. If a group has already earned millions, what incentive exists to simply walk away? And if their true purpose was to highlight security flaws, why accompany that mission with ransom demands and high-profile extortion?

These same groups orchestrated headline breaches against MGM Resorts and Marks & Spencer. Several members are already in custody, and in their farewell post, the gangs promised retaliation and vowed to fight for their release (Research Sniper, 2025). Does that sound like a group stepping away from the battlefield, or regrouping for the next campaign?

Security analysts remain deeply skeptical. “Retirement” statements have long served as cover for operational resets. By shedding an old name, hackers dodge indictments and resurface with fresh branding. The Register and other observers warn that the billions at stake make it unlikely for operators to simply disappear. At best, the announcement signals a pause. At worst, it masks preparations for more sophisticated campaigns.

For businesses, the announcement reads less like closure and more like a signal of transition. Cybercrime has always operated in cycles. Groups splinter under pressure, rebrand to avoid indictments, and re-emerge under new guises, often with sharper tools, refined infrastructure, and broader target lists. A declared “retirement” is rarely the end of a story; it is usually the prologue to another phase.

The silence from these 15 ransomware groups should therefore be understood as camouflage. Some members will undoubtedly pivot into adjacent fields such as exploit development or gray-market “security research.” Others will fold into newer operations, carrying with them the experience, playbooks, and financial capital accumulated during years of attacks. The industry of cybercrime does not vanish; it mutates, and each mutation tends to be more resilient than the last.

For defenders, this reality leaves no margin for complacency. Whether the retirement is genuine or staged, the fundamental obligation remains the same: build resilience that assumes continuity of threat. That means layered defenses, continuous monitoring, and the recognition that adversaries adapt as quickly as the technologies they exploit.

Retirement in the world of ransomware does not represent an ending. It marks a strategic pause, a shift in branding, or the redistribution of talent across the underground economy. The players may change names, but the game itself endures—and businesses must prepare for its next chapter with the same urgency as before.