Ransomware group auctions stolen Berlin data after ransom refusal

Investing.com -- A ransomware group said Friday it was auctioning stolen data from Berlin state agencies after city officials refused to pay a ransom demand.

The Rhysida group, which researchers say operates from Russia or Eastern Europe, said on its website it took 5.79 terabytes of data including 46,500 contracts as well as emails, phone numbers, passwords and classified information.

The group said it was auctioning the data at a starting price of 30 bitcoin ($77,622) with a countdown timer showing just under seven days remaining on its website.

The cyberattack on Berlin’s network comes less than a month before the city-state holds elections on September 20.

Broadcaster RBB reported Thursday evening that Berlin had received ransom demands for an unspecified amount following the attack.

"The state of Berlin will not submit to extortion," Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner and Berlin’s interior senator, Iris Spranger, said in a joint statement Friday, before the ransomware group claimed the attack on their website.

Officials could not provide details on the content or scope of the affected data because the extent of the breach was still being examined, Wegner said at a press conference.

Spranger said the city’s election infrastructure had not been affected and that, according to security officials, no data related to the election had been compromised.

Rhysida has claimed nearly 280 attacks since it emerged in June 2023, according to cybercrime research platform eCrime.ch.

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