Rhysida group: 1.4 million Berlin municipal files on darknet
Hackers published 1.4 million files from Berlin's municipal authority after a 2 million euro ransom deadline expired.
Rhysida group leaked millions of files from Berlin municipal authority on darknet
The hacker group Rhysida published more than 1.4 million data files it had stolen from Berlin's municipal authority after the deadline for paying a ransom passed, according to Naftemporiki.
The data was made available for download in multiple batches. "Have fun, data hunters," the hackers wrote at the time of publication, as reported by German public broadcaster RBB. Among the exposed documents are work certificates, job offers and employee evaluations.
The cyber attack took place on 14 August. Municipal services — particularly those managing housing and environmental matters — were cut off from the network for a week, making applications and housing benefit payments impossible for several days.
At the end of August, Berlin's mayor Kai Wegner announced publicly that the city had been subjected to extortion following the attack, stating that it would not give in to the demands. According to Spiegel, the perpetrators demanded a ransom equivalent to approximately 2 million euros.
Rhysida is known for previous high-profile attacks. In autumn 2023 it had targeted the British Library in London, demanding a ransom of 20 bitcoin — worth more than 760,000 euros at that time. After the library refused to pay, the group published approximately 500,000 files containing personal data of visitors, subscribers and staff.
The Berlin municipal authority's data breach coincided with the pre-election period for municipal elections on 20 September, which, according to information to date, were not affected by the attack.
Source: Naftemporiki