Berlin government suffers aftermath of cyberattack days after it occurred

Five days after a cyberattack targeted parts of the Berlin state government in Germany, problems remain unresolved.

Berlin’s mayor, Kai Wegner, said that resolving the disruption would take a few more days. The politician, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, added: “We are working at full capacity to reconnect the two ministries affected by the attack to the state network as quickly as possible. However, it will take a few more days.”

Wegner stated that Berlin “has fallen victim to a cyberattack,” and added that the incident “was and remains serious,” noting that, according to initial findings, no sensitive data had been leaked.

The Berlin state chancellery announced on Monday evening that a “breach of the government network” had been detected as part of criminal investigations. It noted that the attack targeted the Ministry for Urban Development, Building and Housing, as well as the Ministry for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment. The chancellery added that the two ministries had already been disconnected from the state network last Friday for security reasons, in order to prevent further damage.

According to the state chancellery, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office, the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) have been involved in the investigations. A spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor’s Office told the German News Agency (dpa) that the incident had led to the opening of a criminal investigation.