It was a story that almost went unnoticed amid all the clamor surrounding the closely watched state election in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. This highly alarming story is one of many recent reports that have detailed attacks on infrastructure or drone attacks on airports carried out by hostile foreign powers. Incidents like this one in the German capital highlight just how vulnerable Germany’s data networks are. So what exactly happened? Since early September, employee files, official correspondence, pay stubs and even scanned ID documents have been appearing on the dark web. The hacker group Rhysida stole the data and then tried to extort the Berlin city government. They demanded a ransom of 30 bitcoins, which is equivalent to about €2 million ($2.3 million), or else they would publish the sensitive data. But last Friday, Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner stated: “The State of Berlin will not give in to blackmail.”

Full report : Shortly before Berlin’s state parliamentary election, the hacker group Rhysida stole data, tried to extort the Berlin Senate and published the data on the dark web after their attempt failed.