No high-security data was affected by the cyberattack

Florian Hauer, State Secretary for Digital Affairs (file photo)

According to the Senate, no data of significance to national security was stolen or published during the cyber-attack on parts of Berlin’s city administration.

Only data classified at the lowest of four security levels had been stolen, said Berlin’s State Secretary for Digital Affairs, Florian Hauer, speaking before the State Parliament’s Committee on Home Affairs. Only data classified as VS-NfD (Classified – For Official Use Only) was affected.

No data of a highly sensitive or security-relevant nature has been published

With regard to federal institutions, the Bundeswehr and national security, this means that no data of a highly sensitive nature or of security relevance has been hacked, said the State Secretary. However, Mr Hauer emphasised at the same time that the checks and investigations into the more than 1.2 million files were still ongoing. Although some files had appeared sensitive at first glance, it subsequently transpired that they posed no threat. For example, files relating to the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) had merely concerned parking permits.

Additional measures to protect the systems are being planned

At the same time, the State Secretary pointed out that further security audits of the IT network used by Berlin’s local authorities would almost certainly reveal structural shortcomings. These had arisen years ago and now needed to be rectified as quickly as possible. Funds would have to be allocated for this in the state budget. At present, structural measures are already being planned in parallel, “which will also cost a considerable amount of money in order to strengthen the system in the short term”.

Coordination unit set up on Saturday

To investigate the attack, the Senate Chancellery has set up an additional coordination unit headed by Hauer. The unit is intended to coordinate the review and assessment of the stolen data and to support the two Senate departments affected in informing and advising affected citizens and businesses. According to the information provided, the new unit involves not only the Berlin State Criminal Police Office but also the affected Senate departments, the State Data Protection Authority, the State Commissioner for Information Security and other security agencies.