Berlin's state government declined to pay the 30 Bitcoin ransom demanded by the Rhysida ransomware group, saying it would not surrender to blackmail. Officials cautioned that residents' personal data could be exposed in the data release.

The attack came to light on August 14, with the Senate Chancellery valuing the ransom at about two million euros. The State Criminal Police Office and Germany's federal cybersecurity agency are leading the investigation.

After the deadline passed, the hackers published about 5.7 terabytes of stolen data on the dark web.