Berlin rejects ransom after hackers steal 5.79 TB before election
What's new: Officials said housing-benefit and payment systems were disrupted, but election infrastructure was not breached.
Berlin officials refused to pay after a ransomware attack exposed city systems and, according to the Rhysida group, led to the theft of 5.79 terabytes of data. Mayor Kai Wegner said the city-state would not give in to blackmail as investigators worked to determine what was taken. Reuters and the BBC reported the group posted a seven-day countdown to auction the files, with a starting price of 30 bitcoin. Officials said initial data leaks occurred between Aug. 7 and Aug. 12, and two department networks were shut down on Aug. 14, temporarily disrupting housing-benefit applications and payments. Authorities said Berlin's Sept. 20 election systems were not affected.