World News

Berlin mayor says city is facing ransomware blackmail after cyberattack

Hackers stolen terabytes of data from municipal systems, but city officials insist they will not pay the ransom.

Updated Aug 28, 2026 · 22:19 UTC1 reports

The short version

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner announced that hackers compromised city systems earlier this month and are now attempting to blackmail the government.
City officials stated they will not pay the ransom, despite threats from the Rhysida ransomware group to auction off stolen data within seven days.
Investigative authorities are working to assess the full scope of compromised data, which forced temporary shutdowns of some municipal online services.
Officials confirmed that election infrastructure remains secure ahead of Berlin's upcoming vote.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner confirmed the city received a ransom demand on Thursday following a cyberattack earlier in August.[BBC News]
Wegner declared that Berlin will not pay the ransom demand.[BBC News]
The Rhysida hacker group claimed responsibility for stealing 5.79 terabytes of data and threatened to auction it off in seven days.[BBC News]
Der Spiegel reported that the hackers are demanding a payment of 30 bitcoin, equivalent to roughly €2 million.[BBC News]
An initial data breach occurred between August 7 and August 12, prompting the shutdown of two department networks on August 14.[BBC News]
State Senator Iris Spranger stated that election infrastructure was not compromised ahead of the city's upcoming elections.[BBC News]

City officials noted that forensic investigators have not yet fully verified the content and scope of the compromised data or whether personal data was exposed.[BBC News]
Berlin authorities have not officially named Rhysida as the perpetrator, though media reports cite claims from the group's website.[BBC News]