Ransomware (extortion): Hospital and care home, Switzerland 2021
On 12 September 2021, cyber criminals from abroad broke into the IT of the Geneva care home, where medical and personal data of the residents was stored, and demanded a ransom.
- Incident · 09.2021 · Canton of Geneva, Switzerland
- Evidence: one media report
- Ransomware (extortion)
As of
What happened
The management did not respond to the demand and filed a criminal complaint. No data was lost because it had been transferred to an external server shortly before; however, data exfiltration could not be ruled out.
- Affected
- Maison de Vessy
- Industry
- Hospital and care home
- Loss
- no reliable figure
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- yes / no
- Data affected
- Medical and personal data of the residents (exfiltration not ruled out)
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- not stated in the sources
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
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Immediate help in an emergency
Hotline, IT forensics, crisis PR and legal advice
Mostly covered 7 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Help and negotiation; only some insurers pay the ransom, see note
Mostly add-on 6 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Costs of getting data, software and systems running again
Mostly covered 6 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Letters, call centre, credit monitoring
Mostly covered 6 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
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Third-party claims after a data breach
Liability for data protection and network security breaches
Mostly covered 7 of 9 business products cover it fully, as an add-on or with limits.
Overview based on public policy terms, as of 06.11.2026. Only your policy and its general terms and conditions (GTC) are binding. No confirmation of cover.
What we can learn
Health data makes care homes a target too; here, an external backup prevented data loss.
Sources
- Ransomware-Attacke auf Genfer Pflegeheim (opens in a new window) Netzwoche (gestützt auf Watson) · 21.09.2021
«Die Heimleitung habe sich auf die Forderung nicht eingelassen und Anzeige gegen Unbekannt erstattet.»