In this article, you will learn about a few of the biggest and most significant data breaches ever. The paper will explore why these breaches happened and learn from them. These are all actual events, and some are still affecting people today.
What is Data Breach?
Data breaches occur when a cybercriminal successfully infiltrates a data source, often an organization’s network. Once inside, the hacker can expose, corrupt, or even delete sensitive information or trade secrets. If it’s secret or mission-critical data exposed and misused by the cybercriminal, it could seriously harm a business.
How Does a Data Breach Occur?
A data breach occurs when private data is lost or stolen. A data breach can include situations where computer files or cloud storage containing personal data got accessed by an unauthorized party. The third part may alter data format and make them easily accessed by anybody without authentication or may go ahead and make them unavailable.
5 Significant Data Breaches
1- Yahoo
In December 2016, Yahoo announced that data from 500 million accounts was stolen in 2014. The breach included usernames, passwords, and security questions. Two months later, Yahoo revealed it had been the victim of another attack that compromised 1 billion accounts.
2- Facebook
The 2018 Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal was one of the most significant data privacy breaches. Facebook compromised more than 50 million users’ personal information, and 87 million people were affected globally. The data was shared with Cambridge Analytica, a political research firm that used it to micro-target voters and influence voting behavior during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
3- Marriott International
Marriott International’s Starwood hotels database of guest records and payment data was hacked in a massive data breach, affecting up to 500 million customers. Marriott International’s is the second-largest breach in history after Yahoo’s in 2013 and potentially affects a third of the
One billion Marriott International customers. However, multiple reports from customers indicate that the company did not alert its members about the breach until many months later.
4- LinkedIn
In May 2016, LinkedIn reported they were the victim of a data breach that involved the user/password records of more than 167 million users.
In response to this breach, LinkedIn invalidated the passwords of affected users and required them to reset their passwords. Unfortunately, the list sunk on the dark web, including email addresses and passwords.
5- First American Financial Corp.
May 24, 2019, report revealed that roughly 885 million people’s data was exposed to a First American Financial Corp. website vulnerability that could be accessed without authentication.
What to Learn from The Data Breaches
Data breaches can have a massive impact on your organization. The result includes loss of intellectual property and critical data, financial losses, and damage to your brand reputation. If you are the custodian or processor of personal data, you are responsible for keeping it secure and preventing its misuse.
Hackers are getting more sophisticated, making it easier for them to steal your personal and financial information. Protecting yourself from prying eyes is now more essential than ever before.
