Cyber Incident Victim: City of Dresden
Date:
Apr 2025
Location:
Germany
Summary
The city of Dresden was targeted by aRussian hacker group that sought to disrupt its online presence and services such as e‑parking tickets and appointment booking. During the attack the municipal website experienced limited accessibility and some applications showed delayed response times, though the site and its services remained reachable. Authorities reported that normal operation resumed shortly afterward. The same group is also linked by federal cybersecurity agencies to a previous intrusion on the city’s web portal and to similar attempts against other German municipalities.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 3 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On the weekend of April 2025, a Russian hacker group launched a coordinated cyber attack targeting several German major cities, including Dresden. The primary objective of the attack was to disrupt the city's online presence and associated digital services such as e‑parking ticket systems and online appointment booking platforms. The attackers focused on the municipal website dresden.de, attempting to block access to the site and its integrated services. During the attack, the website experienced periods of limited accessibility, with some users reporting difficulty reaching the site. In addition to Dresden, the same hacker group reportedly targeted the internet presences of other cities, notably Berlin and Nuremberg, as part of the same wave of activity. The attack occurred over the weekend, with the most noticeable impact observed on Friday.
According to a statement from the Dresden Rathaus, the city’s cybersecurity defenses successfully repelled the intrusion. The Rathaus reported that, despite the attack, the dresden.de domain and its associated internet services remained continuously reachable throughout the incident. Between 10:00 and 14:00 on Friday, some applications on the site exhibited a slightly delayed response time, but no service outage was recorded. Following the incident, the city confirmed that normal operation of all online services resumed on Monday without further issues. Authorities noted that the same Russian hacker group is suspected of being responsible for a previous cyber attack on dresden.de that occurred in October 2023. The connection to the earlier incident was cited by federal cybersecurity authorities as part of their ongoing attribution efforts.