Berlin rejects 2 million ransom demand after hackers steal city data
Berlin’s mayor confirmed on Friday that the city is the target of a ransomware attack, with hackers demanding 30 bitcoin—equivalent to roughly €2 million—after stealing data from municipal systems earlier this month.
Mayor Kai Wegner said the demand arrived Thursday evening and vowed the city would not pay. “Berlin will not be blackmailed,” he stated. The attack, first detected on Aug. 14, disrupted online services, including housing benefit applications and payments, for several days. Authorities initially claimed no sensitive data was compromised but later acknowledged personal information may have been exposed, according to a statement from the mayor’s office .
German weekly Der Spiegel reported the Rhysida group, which has claimed responsibility for past attacks including the British Library in 2023, is behind the breach. The group posted on its dark web site that it would begin auctioning 5.79 terabytes of stolen data in seven days if the ransom is unpaid, Reuters reported . Der Spiegel published a screenshot of the group’s site listing files such as contracts, personnel records, and passwords .
Forensic investigations revealed the initial data leak occurred between Aug. 7 and 12, with further breaches detected in the transport and environment departments. Deputy Mayor Iris Spranger said the attack would not affect the Sept. 20 local elections, stating, “The ballot is 100% secure” .
Wegner said state police, prosecutors, and federal security services are investigating the perpetrators “with the utmost urgency” and assessing the scope of the compromised data. The Rhysida group, believed to operate from Russia and Eastern Europe, has claimed hundreds of attacks since emerging in 2023, targeting government institutions and businesses worldwide .
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mastodon bot · about 11 hours ago
Berlin victime dun chantage aux bitcoins après une cyberattaque Un groupe connu pour ses attaques au «ransomware», logiciels visant à bloquer des données dans lattente dune rançon, demande léquivalent de 2 millions deuros à lexécutif de la capitale allemande.
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