Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners, a Palo Alto-based venture capital and growth equity firm, was claimed as a victim by the ransomware group known as Sinobi in mid-2025. According to HookPhish and Ransomware.live, the group listed the firm, whose domain is nvp.com, on its leak site and claimed it had exfiltrated internal files during the attack. The group threatened to publish the full leak unless a company representative made contact through channels it provided, according to dexpose.

Our investigation team indexed 4,156 rows of data connected to this listing. The exact number of people affected has not been published, and no ransom amount has been confirmed.

Limited public reporting: As of September 25, 2026, detailed company notices or major news coverage for this listing were limited in sources reviewed. The facts below rely primarily on the indexed fields plus any secondary sources cited.

Breach Timeline

July 10, 2025: The Sinobi ransomware group listed Norwest Venture Partners on its leak site, claiming internal files had been exfiltrated, according to Ransomware.live and GalaxyWarden. Ransomware.live estimates the attack date as July 10, 2025, while our investigation team estimates the attack occurred on August 9, 2025.

August 15, 2025: The incident was recorded on threat intelligence tracking sites, with Sinobi publicly claiming responsibility and warning that the full leak would be published unless negotiations began, per HookPhish and dexpose.

What Information Was Compromised?

Our analysis found the following data types in this breach: email addresses. The number of email addresses affected could not be determined from the available records.

The Sinobi group's leak-site listing described the stolen material only as internal files, without itemizing their contents. Independent reporting, including Breachsense, lists the leak size as unknown. No specific categories such as financial account details, Social Security numbers, or investment records have been confirmed by any third party.

Not every individual is affected by every type of data listed here.

What Are the Potential Risks for Affected Individuals?

Email addresses tied to a venture capital firm can be used for targeted phishing. Attackers who know a victim's professional relationship to the firm may craft convincing messages about investments, portfolio companies, or wire transfers. Because the claimed stolen material is described as internal files, founders, employees, limited partners, and service providers connected to Norwest may face more personalized and harder-to-spot attempts.

There is also a general credential risk. Breachsense reports that it has indexed 168 @nvp.com addresses from external breaches, though it notes that none of this exposure is necessarily connected to the ransomware attack. If reused passwords are involved, any exposed credentials could unlock other accounts through credential stuffing.

What Should You Do If You Were Affected?

If you have had a professional or personal connection to Norwest Venture Partners, take these steps:

Be cautious with unexpected emails that reference the firm, its deals, or its portfolio companies, especially anything urging payment or urgent action. Verify requests through a known contact by phone.

Enable multi-factor authentication on your email and any investment-related accounts.

Change passwords that may have been reused across services, and use a unique password for each account.

Monitor financial accounts and credit reports for activity you do not recognize.

Keep records of any suspicious contact that references the firm or your investments.

No public statement from Norwest Venture Partners about the incident was found as of September 25, 2026, and the claim remains based on the group's own leak-site listing. Treat any communication that cites this breach with skepticism, since extortion attempts often follow public listings.