Following a cyberattack: Immediate threat to the administration cleared

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Following the cyber-attack on the Berlin administration and the associated data breach, the Senate Chancellery has stated that the immediate threat has been averted.

According to the Senate Chancellery, there have been no further attacks on the affected sections of Berlin’s regional network since 13 August. The attacker did not succeed in infiltrating the network on a sustained basis.

The cyberattack took place in mid-August

The cyberattack, which lasted several days and targeted parts of the Berlin city administration’s data network, came to light on 14 August. The departments particularly affected were the Senate Departments for Transport and the Environment, and for Urban Development, Construction and Housing. The hacker group Rhysida blackmailed the city and demanded 30 bitcoins, equivalent to around two million euros.

Published data is being analysed further

The Senate did not pay, whereupon the cybercriminals published 1.4 million data records on the dark web – a part of the internet that is not readily accessible – once their ultimatum had expired. These included personal and confidential data that could be exploited by other criminals. Although the immediate threat had been averted, the Senate Chancellery stated that the stolen data would continue to be analysed. Similarly, measures to protect information technology (IT) would continue to be implemented and strengthened, and criminal prosecutions would be pursued further.