The Berlin state government has refused to pay a 30 Bitcoin ransom (approximately $2.4 million) demanded by the Rhysida ransomware group, after which the hackers published 5.7TB of stolen data on the dark web. The attack was discovered on August 14, isolating the networks of two senate departments and disrupting services like housing subsidies and family support. The ransom deadline of September 4 passed without payment, leading to the data leak. Berlin's Chief Digital Officer Florian Hauer stated the city would not yield to extortion. Rhysida has been active since 2023 and auctioned the data with a starting bid of 30 BTC. Data shows on-chain ransomware payments dropped about 8% in 2025 while reported attacks rose 50%. Berlin has not yet quantified the financial damage.
Berlin’s state government flatly refused to pay a 30 Bitcoin ransom — about $2.4 million — demanded by the Rhysida ransomware group. The result: the hackers dumped 5.7TB of stolen data on the dark web, according to Techub News via BeInCrypto.
Chief Digital Officer Florian Hauer said Berlin would not cave to extortion. Simple as that. He said the top priority is the safety of state employees and citizens. The attack was found on August 14, which forced officials to isolate two senate department networks and disrupted the distribution of housing subsidies and family support services. The ransom deadline was September 4. After that, the hackers published the full dataset.
The state criminal police office and Germany’s federal cybersecurity agency are leading the investigations, and a central crisis team has been created to examine the leaked materials. Rhysida, active since 2023, had put the data up for auction with a starting bid of 30 BTC. Industry data says on-chain ransomware payments dropped by about 8% in 2025, even as the number of claimed attacks jumped by 50%. Berlin still has not assessed the financial impact of the breach.
Source: BeInCrypto
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