Ransomware (extortion): Dental practice, Germany 2016
Criminals introduced ransomware into the practice network, encrypted the patient data and threatened to delete everything unless they were paid.
- Incident · 10.2016 · North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Evidence: one media report
- Ransomware (extortion)
As of
What happened
The entire practice came to a standstill. The owner did not pay, alerted the police and had an IT company remove the malware; according to the report, no patient data was lost.
- Affected
- Company (anonymous)
- Industry
- Dental practice
- Loss
- no reliable figure
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- yes / no
- Data affected
- true
- 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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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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Loss of income after an attack
Business interruption, only after the waiting period
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.
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
With working IT support and data backup, a practice does not have to pay a ransom.
Sources
- Hackerangriff: Lösegeld-Trojaner legt Zahnarztpraxis lahm (opens in a new window) ZWP online (nach RP Online) · 2016-10-17
«Werde nicht gezahlt, lautete die Drohung, würden sämtliche Daten unwiderruflich gelöscht werden.»