Berlin says acute threat from hack on city administration is over
Two months after a cyberattack by the Rhysida group, Berlin's Senate Chancellery has given the all-clear. At least 1.2 million stolen records remain on the dark web.
Archive image · Photo: Michielverbeek / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The acute threat from a hacking attack on parts of Berlin's administrative network has passed, according to the Senate Chancellery. There have been no further attacks on the examined parts of the state network since Aug. 13, it said, adding that the attacker failed to gain a lasting foothold in the network. Tagesspiegel was first to report the assessment.
The attack, which lasted several days, became public on Aug. 14. It mainly hit the Senate departments for transport and environment and for urban development, construction and housing. The hacker group Rhysida demanded 30 bitcoin, about 2 million euros. The Senate did not pay.
After the ultimatum expired, the group posted at least 1.2 million records on the dark web, including personal and confidential data that other criminals could misuse. The Senate Chancellery said the stolen data is still being analyzed, IT security is being tightened and criminal prosecution is being pursued.