Berlin Mayor Admits Sensitive Data Stolen in Cyberattack - Sarmad

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner admitted in an interview published on Saturday that sensitive data was stolen in a cyberattack on the German capital’s city administration in August.

The public broadcaster ARD confirmed that hackers posted more than one million of these data records on the dark web on Friday, after their ransom demand was ignored.

According to the weekly magazine Der Spiegel, the stolen data includes Berlin Fire Department security protocols, payroll lists, banking information, digital copies of official identification documents, confidential employee information, and files related to the expansion of the German Chancellery.

Wegner confirmed the data breach in an interview with Bild newspaper published on Saturday, reiterating his refusal to succumb to the hackers’ extortion.

“Who can guarantee that if we pay the ransom, this data won’t remain available elsewhere for a long time?” he asked.

Local media reported that the ransom demanded was approximately two million euros.

The government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz is “closely monitoring the information and investigation regarding the leak of this data,” a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.

According to local reports, the cyberattack was carried out by a hacker group known as “Rhysida,” which previously claimed responsibility for attacks including one on the British Library in London in autumn 2023.

At that time, the group demanded a ransom exceeding 760,000 euros from the historic library. When their demand was not met, the group published approximately 500,000 files on the dark web containing the personal data of visitors, subscribers, and employees.

Due to the cyberattack that occurred on August 14, several departments in the German capital, particularly those responsible for housing and environmental affairs, were unable to access their networks for a week, which prevented the submission and processing of housing benefit applications for several days.