Ransomware group 'thegentlemen' claims attack on Sharp Office
A criminal gang has listed Australian office-supplies company Sharp Office on its dark-web site, claiming to have hit the 90-year-old supplier. The company has not confirmed anything, and the claim is unverified.
Key points
- A ransomware group calling itself "thegentlemen" claims to have attacked Sharp Office, an Australian business-to-business office supplier based in Ingleburn, NSW.
- The listing appeared on the group's dark-web leak site on 7 September 2026, according to monitoring service Ransomware.live.
- Sharp Office has not publicly confirmed any incident, and the claim could not be independently verified at publication time.
- Ransomware is malicious software criminals use to lock a company's files and demand payment; leak sites are where groups name victims to pressure them into paying.
- Listings are sometimes exaggerated or outright false, and are written by the attackers themselves to apply pressure.
What is being claimed?
"thegentlemen" has listed Sharp Office on its dark-web leak site, first observed on 7 September 2026 by Ransomware.live. Fourteen of the sixteen ransomware listings we've reported in the last thirty days follow the same pattern: a name on a page, no stolen files enumerated, and a company yet to speak.
The group's post describes Sharp Office in flattering terms, citing heritage dating to 1935 and a range of office products and IT services sold to government and business clients across Australia. That description is written entirely by the attackers; criminals routinely inflate a target's profile to make a claimed breach look more valuable.
No stolen files or specific data categories appear in the listing. Sharp Office has made no public statement, and no independent source has confirmed any breach took place.
Should Sharp Office customers or staff be worried?
Not yet. The claim is unconfirmed, but a few quiet precautions now cost nothing.
Watch for phishing emails that use news of this claimed attack as a lure. Criminals sometimes send these right after a listing goes public, counting on curiosity and distraction to make people click a bad link or hand over a password.
Don't reuse the same password across accounts. If you use the same credentials for a Sharp Office portal that you use elsewhere, change the others now.
Be cautious of calls or emails offering "breach compensation" or asking you to verify your identity because of this incident. No legitimate company cold-calls victims to offer a payout; it's a scam.
Watch Sharp Office's own website and direct company emails for any official statement. That's the only source worth trusting on whether a real incident occurred.
Common questions
What is a ransomware leak site?
A ransomware leak site is a page on the dark web, a part of the internet not reachable by normal browsers, where criminal groups publicly name companies they claim to have attacked. Naming a victim is a pressure tactic: pay up, or we publish what we took.
Does being listed mean the company was definitely hacked?
No. Listings are written by the criminals themselves and are sometimes false or exaggerated. Only a statement from the company, a regulator, or an independent investigation can confirm whether a breach actually happened.
