Hacker Attack Berlin Senate: No Findings

Q: Are there findings on the perpetrators of the hacker attack?

According to the Senate Chancellery, there are currently no reliable findings on the perpetrators, scope, or motives of the attack; the forensic investigation is ongoing.

Q: What is the Senate doing about the cyberattack?

The affected Senate administrations have taken measures to increase IT security, including additional checks and closer monitoring of the systems.

Berlin, 24 August 2026 Following the hacker attack on Berlin's state network, the Berlin Senate still has no reliable findings on the perpetrators, scope, or motives. After the cyberattack on the state's digital infrastructure, the state government continues to grope in the dark in its investigation. As the Senate Chancellery announced, there are currently no confirmed findings about who is behind the attack, how great the damage is, and what data may have been exfiltrated. The investigations and the forensic examination of the incident are ongoing. ## Isolated Administrative Areas For security reasons, the Senate administrations for Urban Development, Building and Housing as well as for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment were isolated from the state's data network for security reasons. This is intended to prevent any malicious code from spreading further within the state network and compromising additional systems. The affected areas had to temporarily operate without central network access. The two Senate administrations had initiated measures to increase the IT security of their systems, the Senate Chancellery further explained. According to this, these include additional checks, closer monitoring, and a review of the existing security architecture. The issue will also be debated in the House of Representatives in upcoming sessions. ## Political Reactions The Senate Chancellery continued to remain tight-lipped about the exact time of the attack, the number of affected systems, and the potential impact on citizen data. Housing benefits, which run over the same IT infrastructure, have also been brought into focus according to sources close to the administration. However, a final assessment is still pending. The incident is drawing criticism on the domestic policy front. The CDU in the House of Representatives is demanding swift clarification regarding the vulnerabilities and prompt information for the public. The question of why existing protective measures were apparently unable to prevent the attack is also on the table. According to the Senate Chancellery, internal reviews on this matter are still ongoing. ## Background: Vulnerability of Public Networks In general, the case demonstrates the vulnerability of public administration networks to professionally prepared cyberattacks. Comparable incidents in other federal states and municipalities have shown in the past that the analysis of such attacks often takes weeks or months. The Senate Chancellery intends to provide further information at the appropriate time. Florian Hauer, spokesperson for the Senate Chancellery, asked for understanding that no details could currently be provided for investigative tactical reasons. Any public information could hinder the ongoing review process and potentially allow conclusions to be drawn about security gaps. ## Next Steps At the same time, external IT specialists and security authorities are working on the analysis. Findings on whether this is a targeted attack, extortion, or a broadly distributed campaign are not yet available. A possible link to foreign actors is also being examined, without any confirmation thereof. Until reliable results are published, the Senate asks citizens to report any unusual occurrences regarding digital administrative matters. This includes failed logins, missing responses to applications, or suspicious emails purportedly originating from the administration. According to the Senate Chancellery, the coming days are expected to yield further technical findings. As soon as confirmed information is available, Parliament is to be informed in a special session or as part of the regular committee meetings. Until then, the situation remains opaque, and the consequences for individual administrative services cannot yet be definitively quantified.

Berlin Senate: Still No Reliable Findings After Cyberattack

Isolated Administrative Areas

Political Reactions

Background: Vulnerability of Public Networks

Next Steps

Questions & Answers