Disclosure context

About benzona

Benzona is an emerging ransomware group that was first observed in November 2025, operating with apparent financial motivations based on their targeting patterns across multiple sectors and geographic regions. The group has conducted at least 14 documented attacks within a short timeframe since their emergence, suggesting an active operational tempo. Given the limited public documentation available from major threat intelligence sources, specific details regarding the group's country of origin, potential affiliations, or operational model remain unclear, though their diverse geographic targeting spanning Romania, India, Côte d'Ivoire, Taiwan, and France suggests either a broad operational scope or potential ransomware-as-a-service model. The group's attack methodology and technical capabilities have not been extensively documented in public threat intelligence reporting, though their targeting of healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality and tourism, and technology sectors indicates they may be opportunistic in their victim selection rather than following highly specialized targeting criteria. No major high-profile campaigns or significant law enforcement actions against Benzona have been publicly reported by CISA, FBI, or major security firms, likely due to the group's recent emergence and relatively limited scale of operations compared to established ransomware families. Given the group's recent first observation date of November 2025, Benzona appears to remain active, though comprehensive threat intelligence profiles from established security researchers have not yet been published due to the group's nascent operational history. The group has been linked to 14 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on November 26, 2025; most recent post January 30, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

January 22, 2026empreinte-hotel.com listed by benzonaon the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Hospitality and Tourism sector, which has 159 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, empreinte-hotel.com is reported in France, a country with 472 ransomware disclosures in our corpus.

How we know this. Darkfield monitors public ransomware leak sites continuously, archiving every new disclosure and the data later released against the victim. Each entry on this page is sourced from the operator's own publication and cross-checked against complementary OSINT feeds (RansomLook, ransomware.live, RansomWatch). We do not collect or host stolen data — only the metadata, timestamps and screenshots needed to make the public disclosure searchable and accountable. Records here are corrected when the original post is edited, retracted, or merged with another disclosure.

Ransomware victim disclosure

← All victims

Empreinte Hôtel Orléans

listed as empreinte-hotel.com · Claimed by benzona · listed 4 months ago

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Jan 22, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: benzona
Status: Data leaked
Country: France
Sector: Hospitality and Tourism
Listed on leak site: Jan 22, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Empreinte Hôtel is a 4-star boutique hotel and spa located on the banks of the Loire River in the historic Châtelet district of Orléans, France. The property offers 32 rooms including 4 suites, a wellness area (sauna, hammam, jacuzzi), and a lounge bar, housed in a renovated 19th-century historical building. It caters to leisure and business guests and is positioned approximately one hour from Paris.

Industry: Boutique Hotel & Spa
Address: Quai du Châtelet (bord de Loire), Orléans, France

Attack summary

Severity: medium — Data is marked as published, indicating confirmed exfiltration, but no specific data types, scale, or sensitive regulated data categories (e.g. medical, financial) are evidenced; the target is a small boutique hotel with limited disclosed scope.

The ransomware group Benzona claims to have compromised Empreinte Hôtel and has published data (disclosed status: data_published), though no specific data types, volume, or ransom amount were stated in the leak post.

medium

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Hotel guest records (inferred)
Reservation data (inferred)
Business/event booking data (inferred)

Original description

AI-summarised, not from the leak post

The Empreinte Hotel is a luxury establishment located in Orleans, France. This 4-star hotel is situated alongside the Loire River, providing guests with charming views. The hotel comprises of rooms and suites with elegant décor and amenities. Besides comfortable accommodation, the property also features a lounge bar and a wellness area, ensuring a truly restful and enjoyable stay for its guests.

Sources

Victim siteempreinte-hotel.com

Source

Indexed 4 months ago

This page surfaces a public ransomware disclosure indexed by Darkfield. Original posts come from the operator's own leak site; we cross-check against ransomware.live, RansomLook and RansomWatch where applicable. Share this URL freely.