Disclosure context

About Bavacai

Based on the limited publicly available information, Bavacai is a relatively obscure ransomware operation first observed in May 2026 with primarily financial motivations, having targeted at least 16 known victims across multiple countries and sectors. The group's origin and affiliations remain unclear due to insufficient public documentation from major cybersecurity organizations, though their operational model and whether they function as a Ransomware-as-a-Service operation or independent entity has not been definitively established by security researchers. Their attack methodology, specific tools, and encryption techniques have not been extensively documented in public threat intelligence reports, though their targeting pattern suggests opportunistic victim selection across diverse industries including business services, education, consumer services, and agriculture sectors, with primary focus on victims in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, France, and Israel. No major high-profile campaigns or significant law enforcement actions against Bavacai have been publicly reported by CISA, FBI, or established cybersecurity firms like Mandiant. Given the recent emergence timeline and limited public intelligence reporting, the group's current operational status remains uncertain with insufficient data to determine whether they remain active or have ceased operations. The group has been linked to 16 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on May 5, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Timeline of this disclosure

May 5, 2026Desert Christian Schools (DCS) listed by Bavacaion the group's public leak site

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Education sector, which has 694 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, Desert Christian Schools (DCS) is reported in US, a country with 2,713 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

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Desert Christian Schools (DCS)

Claimed by Bavacai · listed 15 days ago

15d

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
May 5, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Bavacai
Status: Data leaked
Country: US
Sector: Education
Listed on leak site: May 5, 2026

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

Desert Christian Schools (DCS) is a K-12 Christian school affiliated with First Baptist Church of Lancaster, California. It operates childcare programs in partnership with the California Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and participates in the City of Lancaster Water Safety program. The school serves the Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles County.

Industry: K-12 Private Christian Education
Address: Lancaster, California, USA

Attack summary

Severity: critical — The disclosed data includes ADP payroll records (employee PII, compensation data), 1099 tax forms (taxpayer identification and financial PII), DCFS childcare program records (which may contain minor children's sensitive information), and financial statements — constituting confirmed exfiltration of regulated and sensitive PII at a K-12 institution serving minors, with data already published.

The Bavacai ransomware group claims to have exfiltrated sensitive operational and financial data from Desert Christian Schools, with the data now published. The disclosed material includes payroll records, financial statements, government program documentation, and school governance records.

critical

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

ADP payroll records
DCFS childcare program documents
City of Lancaster Water Safety program records
Profit & Loss statements
Balance sheets
Trial balance records
1099 tax forms
School Board meeting minutes (2025)

What the group claims

K-12 Christian school affiliated with First Baptist Church of Lancaster, CA. ADP payroll, DCFS childcare program, City of Lancaster Water Safety program. Financial docs: P&L, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, 1099s. School Board minutes 2025.

The leak post

captured from the group's site

File Manager File Manager home page BARAAAI Data is being prepared for publication. BAPAMAI Data is being prepared for publication. BAUARAI Data is being prepared for publication. BAVADAI Data is being prepared for publication. BAVACAI Data is being prepared for publication. BAVAQAI Data is being prepared for publication. Raycolighting DEMO 3137 S Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90058, USA $10 000 Organization with 2 emails extracted. Domain: raycolighting.com baralai Data is being prepared for publication. CEAGESP / Netfeirasp DEMO São Paulo, Brazil $20 000 Brazilian produce wholesale market network. Domain netfeirasp.ceagesp (CEAGESP). Also demarchibrasil.com.br accounts. Colegio María Inmaculada (CMI) DEMO Moravia, San José, Costa Rica $50000 Catholic school in Moravia, Costa Rica. Domain cmi.local / mariainmaculada.ed.cr. Servers: CMI-DC01, CMI-APP, CMI-HTTP2, main-server1/2. Académie de Montpellier / CSJM DEMO Béziers, Occitanie, France $15000 French public school network. Domain CSJM.BEZIERS, part of Académie de Montpellier (ac-montpellier.fr). Occitanie region (laregion.fr). Teacher and admin staff credentials. Palmers Relocations DEMO Victoria, Australia $63 000 Australian …

Sources

Leak posthttp://t33zoj4qwv455fog7qnb2azi5xcdxkixughmmduzbw2rtdgryqfbh6id.onion/company/dcs-lancaster/

Source

Indexed 15 days 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.