Ransomware (extortion): Transport and logistics, Netherlands 2021
Over Easter 2021, ransomware paralysed the IT of the cold chain logistics company; deliveries from three warehouses were held up, and packaged cheese ran short in Albert Heijn branches.
- Incident · 04.2021 · Zeewolde, Tilburg, Heerenveen, Netherlands
- Evidence: confirmed by an authority
- Ransomware (extortion)
As of
What happened
Bakker restored the systems from backups and, according to its director, was fully operational again after six days. A later US indictment claims that the company paid 2 million dollars for a key that did not work (unconfirmed).
- Affected
- Bakker Logistiek
- Industry
- Transport and logistics
- Loss
- no reliable figure
- Business interruption
- 6 days
- Ransom demanded / paid
- yes / unknown
- Data affected
- unknown
- Bankruptcy
- no
- Entry point
- Suspected: vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange (not confirmed)
What would cyber insurance have paid?
That depends on the terms. Whether those affected were insured: unknown.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
Tested backups shorten the outage to days, but even a few days of empty shelves visibly affect customers.
Sources
- Supermarkets cheesed off after dairy supplier is hacked (opens in a new window) DutchNews.nl · 2021-04
- Ransomware Attack Creates Cheese Shortages in Netherlands (opens in a new window) Threatpost · 2021-04