The past decade has seen some of the biggest cybersecurity breaches in history. From high-profile companies to government agencies, no one is immune to the threat of cyberattacks.
While the motives behind these attacks vary, the one common thread is that they could have all been prevented with better cybersecurity practices.
In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the biggest cybersecurity breaches of the past decade. By understanding how these attacks happened, we can learn from them and make sure that our own cybersecurity practices are up to par.
What is a cybersecurity breach?
In short, a cybersecurity breach is an incident where sensitive, confidential, or protected data has been accessed or stolen by unauthorized individuals. A breach can occur when attackers exploit vulnerabilities in a system or network, gain access to sensitive data, and then use that data for malicious purposes.
There are many types of data that can be compromised in a breach, including financial information, personal information, health information, and trade secrets. A breach can have serious consequences for both individuals and organizations, and it is important to take steps to protect your data from unauthorized access.
Cost of cybersecurity breaches
The cost of cybersecurity breaches can be significant, and the impact can be far-reaching. A recent study by IBM found that the average cost of a data breach is now over $3.86 million. And that’s just the average – some breaches can cost significantly more.
Many factors contribute to the cost of a breach, including the type and size of the organization, the type of data that was breached, and the number and severity of the incidents. In some cases, the cost of a breach can also include legal fees and damages, as well as the cost of recovery and repairs.
Biggest Cybersecurity Breaches
Cybersecurity breaches are becoming more and more common. In fact, they have become so common that it’s hard to keep track of all of them. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the biggest cybersecurity breaches in recent years.
Yahoo
On September 22, 2016, Yahoo announced that a data breach had occurred, affecting over 500 million user accounts. The breach included sensitive information such as names, birthdates, email addresses, and hashed passwords.
This breach is one of the largest data breaches in history, and it has raised serious concerns about the security of user data. Yahoo is currently working to secure all affected accounts and prevent future breaches.
Aadhaar
Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identity number issued by the Indian government, has been mired in controversy ever since its inception. The latest issue surrounding Aadhaar is a data breach that has left the personal information of over a billion Indians exposed.
The breach was discovered by a security researcher who found that a website was selling access to the Aadhaar database. The website allowed anyone to search for any Aadhaar number and view the associated demographic data. This included sensitive information such as the individual’s name, address, phone number, and email address.
The breach has caused a major uproar in India, with many people questioning the security of the Aadhaar system. The government has issued a statement saying that they are investigating the matter, but many remain skeptical.
On June 22nd, 2021, LinkedIn announced that it had experienced a data breach. This breach exposed the personal data of over 500 million LinkedIn members. The data that was exposed included names, email addresses, phone numbers, and LinkedIn account IDs. In some cases, the exposed data also includes members’ passwords.
Sina Weibo
In March 2020, it was discovered that the personal data of over 50 million Sina Weibo users had been leaked online. The data breach included information such as users’ real names, contact information, and location data. Sina Weibo is one of the largest social media platforms in China, with over 500 million active users.
The data breach was the latest in a string of data breaches that have occurred in China in recent years. In 2018, the personal data of over 500 million users of the social media platform WeChat was leaked. And in 2015, the personal data of over 700 million Chinese users was leaked in the biggest data breach in history.
On September 28, 2018, it was reported that a security breach had exposed the personal data of over 50 million Facebook users. The data breach, which was caused by a security flaw in Facebook’s software, allowed hackers to access the personal information of Facebook users, including their name, email address, phone number, and date of birth.
Facebook has since patched the security flaw and is working with law enforcement to investigate the incident. Facebook has also notified the affected users and is offering them free credit monitoring services.
Marriot International (Starwood)
Marriott International announced a data breach on Friday, November 30, 2018 that affected the records of up to 500 million guests. The breach began in the Starwood guest reservation database in 2014 and was not discovered until September 10, 2018. This is one of the longest data breaches, taking almost 4 years for the IT staff to realize that their company has been breached.
Adult Friend Finder
On November 13, 2016, it was discovered that the personal information of millions of users of the website Adult Friend Finder was breached in one of the largest data breaches ever. The compromised data included names, email addresses, passwords, dates of birth, and more. Due to the nature of this company, this privacy violation has caused a lot of distress for many people and has raised important questions about online security.
MySpace
In 2016 it was revealed that MySpace had suffered a data breach that affected over 360 million user accounts. The breached data included passwords, email addresses, and user names. As a social media platform that contained several messages, it’s possible that other information could be leaked as hackers or people that purchased the login information would be able to log in to the account and see all information sent to and from that account.
Adobe
In 2013 adobe suffered a data breach that affected over 38 million customers. The breach resulted in the theft of customer names, credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates, and more. The hackers were also able to steal an important part of the source code for adobe’s photoshop program.
Dropbox
In 2012 dropbox suffered a data breach. The breach occurred when a hacker gained access to a Dropbox employee’s account, which gave them access to a Dropbox internal document. This document contained a list of usernames and hashed passwords for over 68 million Dropbox users. Since then dropbox has reset the passwords of all affected user accounts and added two-factor authentication to prevent the risk of account compromise.
Microsoft
Microsoft suffered a data breach in January 2019, exposing the personal data of over 250 million of its customers. The exposed data included customer data from as far back as 2005 up to 2019. The breach was caused by a flaw in the company’s customer support software, which allowed hackers to gain access to certain customer accounts. Most of the PII was redacted but some information like email addresses, IP addresses, geographical locations and others were leaked.
Equifax
In September of 2017, Equifax, one of the three largest credit reporting agencies in the United States, announced that it had suffered a data breach. The breach affected over 143 million people, and it exposed sensitive information such as social security numbers, birth dates, and addresses.
Target
On December 19, 2013, Target Corporation announced that data associated with up to 40 million credit and debit card accounts and 70 million customer records had been stolen. The data breach occurred between November 27 and December 15, 2013, and resulted in the loss of personally identifiable information, including names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and credit and debit card numbers.
Capital One
In 2019 Capital One announced that it had been the victim of a data breach that exposed the personal information of about 100 million people in the United States and 6 million people in Canada. The information that was exposed included names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income.
Does cybersecurity include hacking?
What do before and after a cyber security breach?
Before a cyber security breach:
- Identify your most valuable assets and protect them accordingly
- Educate your employees about cyber security risks and how to avoid them
- Implement strong cyber security measures, including firewalls and intrusion detection systems
After a cyber security breach:
- Launch an investigation to determine how the breach occurred
- Notify your employees and customers as soon as possible
- Contain, eradicate and recovery from the incident
- Change all passwords and security codes
- Conduct a complete review of your security measures
- Take steps to prevent future breaches
Conclusion
Cybersecurity is an important issue that should be taken seriously. The list of 14 biggest cybersecurity breaches in the past decade provides a glimpse into the type of damage that can be done if proper security measures are not put into place.
Take your cybersecurity measures to the next level with Oppos Inc’s cybersecurity compliance service. Our experts can help your business navigate the complex landscape of cybersecurity compliance and minimize the risk of cyber attacks. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you stay protected.
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Cybersecurity Breaches FAQs
A cybersecurity breach occurs when a threat actor finds and exploits a vulnerability in the company’s IT infrastructure. The hacker will exploit this vulnerability to gain access to company data, this unauthorized access of data is what constitutes a data breach.
Preventing data breaches means having security controls in place that protect your data from unauthorized access.
When a data breach occurs there are several steps that the company must follow, this includes launching an investigation, containing the incident, recovery from the incident and notifying the appropriate stakeholders.
