The Greens and the opposition accuse Berlin of serious failure in the hacker attack

After the hacker attack on the Berlin administration, Green Party deputy Konstantin von Notz spoke of a “real data meltdown” and made serious allegations against the state of Berlin and the federal government. The attack appears to be “much more far-reaching than initially known,” von Notz told the “Handelsblatt”. “If it turns out that protective mechanisms were deliberately not adhered to and the urgently needed secret protection was not guaranteed, personnel consequences would also be unavoidable.”

The Green politician emphasized that the published files apparently contained “a lot of highly sensitive information,” including information on critical infrastructure and emergency plans. It could be the most serious IT security incident known to date at the state level.

The IT expert Manuel Atug made serious accusations against the state of Berlin. “The state of Berlin acted with gross negligence and intentionally failed to comply with secrecy regulations,” he told the German Press Agency. “I’m really shocked and speechless about this.”

Atug said that he had been invited twice as an expert to the Berlin Interior Committee, once in 2023 and once in 2025. At that time, he pointed out glaring security gaps to those responsible: "You practice desolate cybersecurity. You urgently need to take care of your security processes." He warned that neglecting security would have serious consequences. “That’s exactly what has happened now.”

“Blatant government failure”

The opposition parties in the Berlin House of Representatives also made sharp accusations against the state government. Left-wing leading candidate Elif Eralp spoke of a “blatant government failure by the CDU”. She called on the Senate to declare a major disaster. AfD top candidate Kristin Brinker called for a quick and comprehensive clarification. Green Party lead candidate Werner Graf criticized that there was still no plan on how to deal with the danger, protect and warn those affected and better organize security. "The week passed without any apparent precautions. This is a scandal."

SPD mayoral candidate Steffen Krach called for a massive expansion of IT security and cyber defense. FDP leading candidate Christoph Meyer called on Wegner and Spranger to resign. “In this Senate, everyone seems to be clinging to their office while serious mistakes have no consequences.”

Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) told the "Bild" newspaper that after the publication of the sensitive data, the goal is now to "reach those affected as quickly as possible".