Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner says the German capital is being blackmailed by hackers over stolen data, but insists the city-state will not pay the ransom demand.
Key facts
- Berlin is being blackmailed by hackers, according to Mayor Kai Wegner.
- The blackmail follows a cyber-attack in which data was stolen.
- Wegner said the German capital and city-state would not cave in to the ransom demand.
Berlin is being blackmailed by hackers following a cyber-attack, the city’s mayor Kai Wegner has said, according to the BBC.
Wegner said the German capital and city-state would not cave in to a ransom demand issued by the attackers, who are seeking payment for data stolen in the incident.
The mayor’s public stance signals that Berlin’s authorities intend to resist the hackers’ demands rather than negotiate a payment to recover the compromised information.
No further details about the scale of the attack, the type of data affected or the size of the ransom demand were provided in the reporting.
The BBC reported the mayor’s comments on 28 August 2026.
Why it matters
Cyber-attacks and ransom demands increasingly target public institutions that hold sensitive citizen data, and a major capital city being blackmailed underscores the growing threat to government services. Berlin's refusal to pay reflects a wider debate over whether authorities should ever meet the demands of hackers.
Frequently asked questions
Is Berlin going to pay the ransom to the hackers?
No. Mayor Kai Wegner said the German capital and city-state would not cave in to the ransom demand, according to the BBC.
What happened in the Berlin cyber-attack?
According to the BBC, data was stolen in a cyber-attack and hackers are now blackmailing the city with a ransom demand. Further details were not provided in the reporting.
Who made the statement about the blackmail?
Berlin's mayor, Kai Wegner, said the city was being blackmailed by hackers.