Following the cyberattack on the state government, Berlin’s Economic Senator, Franziska Giffey, is demanding increased federal funding to safeguard the capital’s critical infrastructure. Giffey told the news magazine Politico that since “Berlin is an elementary target if Germany is attacked in any way,” the ongoing renegotiation of the capital financing treaty with the federal government must account for these heightened risks.
The SPD politician stressed that Berlin faces challenges that are unique and larger than those of any other German city. “The threat level is increasing, and we must adapt to it,” she stated, arguing that massive investments are necessary for the digital security of administration, public companies, and critical infrastructure. Furthermore, she commented on the current geopolitical climate, noting, “We see hybrid attacks everywhere in Germany. I am very sure that the closure of the Russian House will provoke further reactions from Russia.”
From the Economic Senator’s perspective, Berlin needs a high-level crisis response center to ensure better protection. While Berlin already has crisis headquarters and a cyber defense center, Giffey explained that future threat scenarios require an even larger entity. This body would regularly bring together all state actors-even outside of crisis situations-for monitoring and coordination.
Regarding the recent breach, Giffey assigns political responsibility for the hacker attack and the data leak to Kai Wegner. She pointed out that administrative modernization and digitalization are key priorities of the current state government and are entirely managed by the Senate Chancellery. Consequently, she believes the cyberattack and the subsequent handling of the leaked data fell under the purview of the Governing Mayor, who must now manage the situation with the highest priority.
The incident occurred in early August when the hacker group Rhysida stole data from two Berlin Senate administrations and subsequently demanded a payment of 30 Bitcoin (approximately two million euros). The criminals published 1.4 million data records last Friday after the Senate refused to pay the ransom. It appears that some of this data is security-sensitive.
While the Senate Department for Economy was not affected by the data loss, the state-owned companies are closely interconnected with the affected Senate Department for Transport. Giffey said, “We work closely together and sometimes exchange sensitive information.” Therefore, she stated, it cannot be ruled out that such sensitive information is contained within the leaked data package.
