You previously operated under the name RALord before rebranding to Nova. What was the main reason for the rebrand?

To avoid tracks and collisions

Your Premium Affiliate Program offers improved revenue splits over time, reaching up to 95/5%, plus benefits such as an Auto Builder, free 50TB storage, and tools. How do you select "Premium Partners," and what do you see as the biggest advantages of this tiered model?

Partners need to provide confirmations. If they cannot, then we ask for a high deposit to join.

In the Clinical Diagnostics case, a Dutch medical laboratory, in July 2025, after the victim reportedly paid the initial ransom, your group returned in mid-August 2025 with a second ransom demand of 11 Bitcoin, claiming the victim had involved the police. This is unusual in the ransomware ecosystem. What exactly happened in that case?

The group carried out a second fake extortion attempt to make future companies avoid involving the police in such incidents, as a warning. We did not leak any data, and we provided the decryptor. It was more strategic than real. Dutch law comes with shit like "we are going to capture you" or other nonsense, and they advise companies not to pay so they can take the money.

In January 2026, you claimed to have breached KPMG Netherlands. However, KPMG publicly denied that any compromise had occurred. What is your response to their denial? Did you actually access their systems?

KPMG Netherlands was not affected. It was KPMG Indonesia, and yes, the data was exfiltrated from their official servers. They say, "No, not us," but it is their brand in that country, and of course companies lie to protect their reputation.

Your platform features an AI-Assist Agent that answers user questions. How advanced is this AI assistant? Is it primarily used for basic support, or does it also help affiliates with more complex operational or technical matters?

It was actually made as a replacement for the "About Us" tab. It can help journalists add questions or write articles based on the provided answers, explain how our group works to new partners, and more.

Do you plan to use AI in additional phases of the attack kill chain, such as negotiation?

Yes, 2026 and 2027 are AI years. There is a project we are working on, with self-training chatbots only for partners, to help in attacks, negotiations, chats, and everything. The project is under development.

According to your Partnering Rules, you do not attack companies with less than $20M in revenue, schools, or non-profit organizations, and you focus only on "big corps." However, you have claimed victims such as Castilla, Wolf Technology Group, and multiple educational institutions, including the University of Valencia and WSB-NLU University. How do you explain these discrepancies in practice? Has your policy on small companies and educational institutions changed?

It is strategic for affiliates to work only on big corporations, but if they have small companies, we do not refuse them. Now even small companies pay. Anyone can pay.

The FBI and global law enforcement agencies have dismantled many ransomware operations in recent years. What do you do to avoid infiltration or arrest?

To avoid arrests, I wake up, drink some coffee, sit at my laptop, and keep saying, "Don't arrest me, law. Don't arrest me, law..." Man, are you serious? Dutch law claims they are going to trace us with international partners and arrest us. Where? We work and consider law as a staircase we climb and step on.

Why did you choose to start a ransomware operation instead of pursuing a regular job in the cybersecurity field?

Who told you I was not going to work in cybersecurity? I got kicked out. I wanted to work in a company. My family was very poor, and I am talking about myself, not Nova company members. I was young. I went to a company and told them I wanted to work in the IT defense department. They laughed at me because I was very young.

What drives you daily? What inspires you?

The only thing I try to do is help my family. Nothing beyond that. I have no other choice. I apologize, on behalf of my company Nova, to anyone who has been harmed by us. We need money.

What is the weirdest request you have ever received from a victim during negotiations?

I don't remember weird requests. We are an organized company, so companies deal with us as serious people in serious business transactions.

Any final words?

We work only for money. Once we didn't have enough money to buy food, but today we are in a different place. If you are rich, don't conduct ransomware attacks. We wish everyone success.