Two days ago, my desktop files were deleted in what, according to all likelihood, was government or government-sponsored hacking of my work computer. Four months of research on German politics for a new monograph are forever lost, and hundreds of hours of work on my latest book project have been in vain. The financial damage amounts to around 18,000 Euros, which will double as I work to retrieve the material in question once more, to a total of 36,000 Euros.

Despite all possible types of very costly, professional recovery efforts using state-of-the-art software, the most current files that I had stored on my computer, dating from this month of June 2021, are non-retrievable, and have been replaced by old files dating back to the month of February.

I am utterly shocked about such a heinous act. This is a case of premeditated, grievous damage to other people’s property. Obviously, I reserve myself the right to seek legal remedy!

Thorsten Koch, MA, PgDip
21 June 2021