Ransomware gang Hunters International claims breach of German Youth Hostel Association
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The German Youth Hostel Association (DJH), representing about 450 youth hostels, has reportedly fallen victim to a ransomware attack carried out by the cybercriminal group "Hunters." The incident occurred at the end of August 2024, when youth hostels across Germany experienced significant IT disruptions. The issue resulted in non-functioning booking and invoicing systems, as well as problems with keycard-based access to doors.
On August 30, 2024, the DJH servers went down, initially labeled as a "serious technical fault." Claims by the Hunters ransomware gang on the darknet indicate that they were behind the attack. The group claims to have infiltrated the youth hostel’s systems, paralyzed their IT infrastructure using ransomware, and stolen 29.3 GB of sensitive data. Although the DJH did not officially confirm the cause of the disruption, the timing and Hunters’ darknet entry suggest that ransomware was indeed involved.
According to the Hunters' darknet post, the stolen data includes:
- Private data
- Personally identifiable information (PII)
- Financial information
- Customer data
The ransomware gang has threatened to release the stolen data if their demands are not met within a short timeframe.
The exact number of individuals affected by this breach has not been disclosed. The German Youth Hostel Association has not officially confirmed or denied the attack. Additionally, the data protection officer for North Rhine-Westphalia has not provided a statement in response to the incident.
There is no public information regarding whether DJH planned to negotiate with the attackers or pursue alternative recovery measures.
