Berlin is being blackmailed by hackers who compromised city systems and stole data earlier this month. Mayor Kai Wegner announced that officials will not comply with the ransom demand that appeared Thursday evening. The hackers, identified as the Rhysida group, are demanding 30 bitcoin—amounting to about €2 million (US$1.7 million).
City systems were forced offline and housing‑benefits applications became unavailable for several days. Investigations revealed further leaks involving the transport and environment departments, with a total of 5.79 terabytes of data disclosed on the Rhysida dark‑web site.
“Berlin will not be blackmailed,” Wegner said. He added that state police, prosecutors and federal security services are working “with the utmost urgency” to investigate who stole the data and how it was exfiltrated. The mayor noted that investigations into the nature and scope of the compromised data are being pursued “with great intensity.”
The Rhysida group has carried out numerous attacks since 2023, targeting governments and businesses worldwide. They previously infiltrated the British Museum’s systems and released personal records to the dark web after the museum refused to pay a ransom.
The theft occurred between 7 and 12 August, with two department networks shutting down on 14 August, halting key services for days. Public officials have not named the attackers. The city has assured that election infrastructure has not been compromised, even though the incident is approaching the election scheduled earlier this month.
Photo caption: Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner speaks into a microphone on a pale yellow background; photo by Reuters.
