Berlin says it will not pay hackers after city systems breach and data theft
Berlin's mayor has said the city will not pay a ransom demand after hackers compromised municipal systems and stole data earlier this month. The German capital is now dealing with the fallout from an attack that forced some online services offline and disrupted applications for housing benefits and payments. Officials say investigators are still assessing the full scope of the breach.
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Kai Wegner said the city would not cave in to the demand, which was made on Thursday evening. He did not disclose the amount being sought, although reports in German media say the hackers are demanding 30 bitcoin, worth about €2m. The city-state said the first signs of a data leak were detected between 7 and 12 August, before two department networks were shut down on 14 August.
The shutdowns made it impossible to process some housing-benefit and payment applications for several days. Forensic checks later identified further data leaks in Berlin's transport and environment department, according to officials. The mayor's office said it could not be ruled out that personal or other non-public data had also been affected.
The case matters because Berlin is the capital of Germany and a major public administration hub, so any compromise of its systems can affect large numbers of residents and the delivery of basic services. The incident also highlights the pressure faced by public bodies when criminals combine data theft with extortion. In this case, the attackers are said to be threatening to auction the stolen material if their demand is not met.
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Authorities have not publicly named the suspected attackers, but the Rhysida group has reportedly claimed responsibility. The group is thought to operate from Russia and eastern Europe and has previously been linked to an attack on the British Museum. Reports say the group claims to have stolen 5.79 terabytes of data from Berlin and has set a seven-day countdown before an auction begins.
State police, prosecutors and federal security services are working on the investigation, and officials say they are treating the inquiry with urgency. What remains unclear is the full extent of the stolen data, including whether personal information was taken and how many people may be affected. The next developments will depend on the forensic review, the criminal investigation and whether the threatened auction goes ahead.
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