Hacker group Rhysida is demanding a ransom of two million euros from Berlin

Berlin. After a days-long cyber attack on the administration's data network, a group of professional hackers is demanding a ransom of around two million euros from the state of Berlin by Friday. Senate spokeswoman Christine Richter told the German Press Agency. “It is true that a group called Rhysida has claimed responsibility and claims to be in possession of 5.7 terabytes of stolen data.”

The group has been offering the stolen data for sale on the Darknet as part of an auction since last Friday. "The minimum bid is 30 Bitcoins, i.e. around two million euros. The auction runs until Friday," said Richter. “It must be assumed that the data will subsequently be resold or published in whole or in part.” Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) declared on Friday that the state of Berlin would not allow itself to be blackmailed.

According to the Senate's knowledge, Rhysida is a highly professional group that has been associated with various cyber attacks on targets in Europe and the USA in recent years, said Richter. “There are no findings about connections to Russia or even the Russian state, but they cannot be ruled out either.”