Berlin says it won’t pay ransom after hackers steal government data

Rhysida ransomware claimed responsibility for a mid-August cyberattack on Berlin government networks, alleging theft of 5.79 TB of government data (including contracts, emails, phone numbers, passwords and classified information) and posting an auction with a 30 BTC starting price. Berlin acknowledged a data theft and extortion demand, disconnected affected ministry systems to contain the incident, and reported operational disruption to some public services; authorities are still investigating scope, attribution and whether personal or sensitive data was compromised.