IT-Sicherheit: Ultimatum abgelaufen – Hacker veröffentlichen sensible Daten

The deadline set by the criminal hacker group Rhysida, following their cyberattack on Berlin's administration, has expired. On the deadline day, the group's website on the Darknet announced the "auction" was closed. The message read, "All files have been uploaded to the publicly accessible area - have fun browsing, data hunters!"

IT security expert Joachim Selzer of the Chaos Computer Club commented, "Based on what I can see now, they have publicly displayed the entire dataset." Selzer noted that the breach exposed a massive amount of internal data, including personnel matters and employment records. The hackers demanded a ransom of 30 Bitcoin - equivalent to approximately two million euros.

The Berlin Senate had previously stated it would not engage in such extortion attempts, nor would it pay a ransom, thereby threatening the publication of the stolen data. Among the data publicly accessible were requests for a new smartphone, complete with the signature of an administrative employee. Selzer warned that such data could be exploited for identity theft.

The IT expert believes the data is more likely to be misused in the medium term. According to Selzer, the Senate made the right decision in refusing to pay the ransom. IT security expert Christof Fischer emphasized that the law prohibits governments from making payments in ransomware cases. However, Fischer warned that a breach of this magnitude could have severe consequences, as the data fell into the hands of criminals.

The Green Party candidate Werner Graf called for the Senate to support those affected, including a clear method to check if one's data was compromised. Graf also stressed the need for a joint information campaign involving the Senate, the data protection authority, the consumer center, and security authorities.