Top Cyber Security Disasters and Breaches
Several disastrous cyber-attacks have taken place over the years and they are not letting up either. Whether small or big business, hackers probe any system with useful data that can be compromised. Since the success of many businesses depend on how well they can secure customer’s data, cyber attacks often erode customer’s confidence and trust in companies and may even result in permanent business closure in severe cases.
In this article, we go through a list of major hack attacks and leaks that happened in recent time.
BevMo
BevMo website was hacked and the credit card data of about 15,000 customers were compromised.
While BevMo’s website was managed by a third party, the malicious code which harvests customers’ data was injected into the website and it took 7 weeks before the malware was detected. By the time the malicious code was detected and removed, thousands of sensitive data have already been stolen.
BevMo was forced to work with a third-party forensic firm and notify law enforcement about the breach.
Wannacry
In May 2017, Wannacry ransomware spread widely around the world infecting both public and private organizations. The most impactful effect of the malware is the crippling of the UK’s National Health Service hospitals, causing distress to both patients and management.
It was eventually restrained using some of its flaws. Although Wannacry didn’t generate much revenue during the attack, it rattled the infected health institutions.
MyfitnessPal App
One way to do stay fit is by tracking fitness activities with app and MyfitnessPal is a popular choice.
In March 2018, it was discovered that hackers had infiltrated MyfitnessPal owned by Under Armour and stole the personal data of over 150 million users of the app.
Even though data was stolen in the cyber security breach, little damage was done as most of the data was useless to the attackers because the login credentials were hashed using a strong encryption algorithm, bcrypt.
In addition, security configurations prevented the intruders from accessing other valuable data such as location, credit card numbers, and birth dates.
While the strong security system prevented major loss, the passwords that were encrypted with weak SHA1 scheme were likely accessed by the hackers.
Marriott International
This is arguably one of the biggest cybersecurity breaches since it affected 500 million customers. The breach originated from the Starwood hotel, a recently acquired branch of Marriott.
The breach has been in place since the acquisition in 2016 but was discovered two years later. Information such as contact details, passport numbers, and travel details was accessed. In addition, credit card numbers and the expiry dates of over 100 million users were stolen.
According to the New York Times , the attack on Marriott was attributed to Chinese hackers on intelligence gathering operations.
Wikileaks
Wikileaks announced that they obtained some files from the CIA in March 2018. The files were alleged to contain information pertaining to CIA operations involving hacking and spying.
It is also alleged that the CIA was exploiting weaknesses in iOS, android, windows and Mac operating systems.
Wikileaks continued to release the file’s dubbed “vault 7″ in small amounts maintaining that the files expose the secret tools such as viruses, malware, Trojans, and zero-day exploits that are used in target surveillance. The leak
Whether it is protecting your system from active attackers with robust security software or configuring your system to prevent unintentional data leakage, a managed service provider such as SDTEK can improve your business security. Contact us today if you feel the safety of your company data could be at risk.
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