Disclosure context

About Medusa

Medusa, also known as MedusaLocker, is a financially motivated ransomware group that emerged in November 2022 and has since compromised 568 known victims across multiple countries. The group's origin and specific affiliations remain unclear from publicly available intelligence, though their operational patterns suggest they function as an independent ransomware operation rather than a documented Ransomware-as-a-Service model. Medusa primarily targets organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, and Australia, with a focus on business services, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology sectors, employing typical ransomware tactics including data encryption and likely exfiltration for double extortion purposes, though specific technical methodologies and initial access vectors have not been extensively documented in public threat intelligence reports. While the group has maintained a relatively high victim count since its emergence, detailed information about specific notable campaigns, high-profile victims, or major ransom demands has not been widely reported by major cybersecurity firms or law enforcement agencies. As of current intelligence assessments, Medusa appears to remain active in the threat landscape, continuing to target organizations across their established geographic and sectoral preferences. The group has been linked to 568 public disclosures across our corpus. First observed on a leak site on November 15, 2022; most recent post February 14, 2026. The operation is currently active.

Also tracked as: MedusaLocker.

Timeline of this disclosure

February 14, 2026South Hays Fire Department listed by Medusaon the group's public leak site

Records: 50 Employees

Sector and geography

This disclosure adds to ransomware activity in the Public Sector sector, which has 259 disclosures indexed across all operators we track. Geographically, South Hays Fire Department is reported in United States, a country with 7,392 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

South Hays Fire Department

Claimed by Medusa · listed 3 months ago

50 Employees

Records

Age

since listed · data leaked

Status timeline

Listed
Feb 14, 2026
Data leaked

At a glance

Group: Medusa
Status: Data leaked
Country: United States
Sector: Public Sector
Listed on leak site: Feb 14, 2026
Records: 50 Employees

About the victim

AI dossier — public-source company profile

South Hays Fire Department is a public-sector fire and emergency services agency operating in the Hays County area of Texas, United States. It provides fire suppression, rescue, and emergency medical response services to its local community. As a government fire department, it maintains records related to personnel, operations, and the public it serves.

Industry: Public Safety & Emergency Services

Attack summary

Severity: high — A public-sector emergency services agency holds sensitive personnel PII, operational data, and potentially community records; Medusa's data_published status indicates confirmed exfiltration and public release of stolen data, representing significant exposure even without confirmed volume details.

The Medusa ransomware group claims to have attacked South Hays Fire Department and has listed the disclosure status as 'data_published', indicating data exfiltration and publication of stolen files. The specific data categories and volume are not confirmed from the available post content.

high

Data the group says was taken

AI dossier — extracted from the leak post

Personnel records
Internal operational documents
Potentially sensitive public-sector records

What the group claims

Hays County Emergency Services District 3 provides essential fire prevention and emergency services to the South Hays County area. The district focuses on recruiting full-time firefighters and is dedicated to community safety and preparedness. In addition to emergency response, the district promotes public knowledge on fire safety and outdoor burning regulations. Their commitment to accessibility ensures that all community members can engage with their services effectively. The company headquarters is located in 3528 Hunter Road, San Marcos, Texas 78666. 11-50 Employees

The leak post

captured from the group's site

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Sources

Leak posthttp://xfv4jzckytb4g3ckwemcny3ihv4i5p4lqzdpi624cxisu35my5fwi5qd.onion/detail?id=ac91f4e5766c4f523941545ace7d96cc

Source

Indexed 3 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.