Ransomware (extortion): Hairdresser, beauty salon, nail studio, Germany
Attackers hacked a hair salon’s appointment calendar and encrypted it with ransomware.
- Incident · date unknown · North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Evidence: one media report
- Ransomware (extortion)
As of
What happened
The customer database, appointments and accounts were then unusable. Because there were no backups, the salon paid the 1'000 euros demanded in Bitcoin.
- Affected
- Company (anonymous)
- Loss
- no reliable figure
- Business interruption
- unknown
- Ransom demanded / paid
- yes / yes
- Data affected
- true
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- Hacked online appointment calendar
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
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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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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.
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
Without a backup, even a small business is often left with no option but to pay; regularly backing up appointments and customer data costs little.
Sources
- IT-Sicherheit für kleine Betriebe: Tipps vom Fachanwalt (opens in a new window) Deutsches Handwerksblatt (Fälle von Rechtsanwalt Dr. Marc Maisch) · 2025-06