In brief
Berlin’s mayor, Kai Wegner, announced that the capital would not give into the ransom demanded by the Rhysida group, which hijacked city networks and stole 5.79 TB of data. The group is threatening to auction the stolen information after 24 hours, valuing it at 30 BTC (about €2 million). The breach disrupted services such as housing‑benefit applications and transport systems, prompting a swift investigation by state police and security agencies. Despite the threat, officials assure residents that election infrastructure remains secure and that investigations into the scope of data loss are ongoing. The incident follows similar attacks on institutions like the British Museum earlier this year.
Berlin’s mayor, Kai Wegner, declared Friday that the city would not pay the €2‑million ransom demanded by the Rhysida cybercrime group after hackers stole 5.79 TB of data earlier this month.
The group, which has claimed responsibility for attacks in 2023 against institutions and governments, threatened to auction the stolen data. It also insisted that the ransom demanded for Berlin was 30 bitcoin, the same amount it requires for the auction.
Following the breach, several Berlin web‑services, including tenancy‑benefits applications and transport queries, were shut down for days. Forensic investigators have identified further leaks in the transport and environmental departments, and authorities say personal data may also have been exposed.
Wegner added that state police, prosecutors and federal security services are working with “utmost urgency” to identify the perpetrators and assess the data that has been compromised.
The cyber‑attack came just a month before Berlin’s local elections. State senator Iris Spranger confirmed that election infrastructure was not affected by the hacking incident.
Below is a photograph of Mayor Wegner speaking into a microphone, taken during a city press conference.
