BERLIN, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Berlin’s city government will not allow itself to be extorted following a cyberattack on its network, Mayor Kai Wegner said in a statement on Friday, less than a month before the city-state holds elections.
• In a joint statement, Wegner and Berlin’s interior senator, Iris Spranger, said: “The state of Berlin will not submit to extortion,” without giving further details.
• Broadcaster RBB reported on Thursday evening that Berlin had received ransom demands for an unspecified amount following the attack.
• Officials could not yet provide details on the content or scope of the affected data because the extent of the breach was still being examined, Wegner said at a press conference.
• Spranger said the city’s election infrastructure had not been affected and that, according to security officials, no data related to the election had been compromised.
• Berlin is set to elect a new state parliament on September 20. Wegner – a conservative – said in July that he will not seek another term as mayor.
(Reporting by Cian Muenster and Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike Heine)
