Berlin Mayor Declares City Will Not Pay Hackers’ Ransom
The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, said the city will not surrender to a ransom demand that came on Thursday night, after hackers breached multiple city systems and claimed 5.79 terabytes of stolen data.
Der Spiegel reports that the attackers are demanding 30 bitcoin, approximately €2 million ($1.7 million). While Wegner did not disclose the exact figures, the city’s spokesperson committed that it will not be blackmailed.
The assault forced several municipal networks offline, halted housing‑benefit applications, and disrupted payments for several days. Investigators are probing the scope of the leak, which began between 7 and 12 August and included data from the transport and environment departments.
The Rhysida group—believed to operate out of Russia or Eastern Europe—claims responsibility. The group, which has targeted cultural and public institutions worldwide, has threatened to auction the stolen materials after a countdown that ends in seven days, using 30 bitcoin as the opening bid.
Officials from the city-state, state police, prosecutors, and federal security services say the inquiries are conducted “with the utmost urgency.” Nothing is yet known about personal data that might have been exposed, though the group’s dark‑web site lists personnel files, passwords, and contact details among the stolen artefacts.
The breach occurs roughly a month before Berlin’s local elections. The city’s state senator, Iris Spranger, has publicly said that election infrastructure remains uncompromised, while authorities maintain that investigations continue with great intensity.
The Rhysida group has already executed hundreds of attacks since its emergence in 2023, including a 2023 incident in which it infiltrated the British Museum’s computer systems and published visitor and staff data after the museum refused payment.
