As technology connects the world more and more, cyber attacks are becoming more common. Every year, cyber attackers target critical data and financial resources, resulting in millions of attacks. Individuals are frequently targeted in these attacks, but what about those on a grander scale?

Take a look at five of history’s most scandalous cyber attacks that made the cybersecurity news:

  • Adobe

Year: 2013

Details: According to security blogger Brian Krebs, Adobe initially reported in early October 2013 that hackers had robbed nearly 3 million encrypted credit card account records, as well as login information for an unspecified number of account holders.

Later that month, Adobe revised its estimate to include the IDs and encrypted passwords of 38 million “active users.” After weeks of investigation, it was discovered that the hack had also revealed customer names, IDs, passcodes, and checking account information.

In August 2015, Adobe agreed to pay $1.1 million in legal bills and an unspecified amount to customers to settle claims of Customer Records Act violations and unfair practices. The payment reimbursed to customers was reported to be $1 million in November 2016.

  • PlayStation Network

Year: 2011

Details: Sony first noted that some PlayStation Network functions were unavailable in mid-April 2011. The PlayStation internet connection was disrupted for nearly a month as a result of the two-day attack. Over 23 days, 77 million accounts were jeopardized, setting a new record.

Along with this, over 12,000 up-to-date credit card information were stolen in what became identified as the most significant Internet security breach in history. Sony was forced to testify before the United States House of Representatives and was later fined a quarter-million pounds by the British Information Commissioner’s Office for poorly enforced security measures.

  • eBay

Year: May 2014

Details: In May 2014, eBay disclosed that an attack had exposed its entire account list of 145 million users, including names, addresses, birth dates, and encryption keys. The online auction giant stated that hackers gained access to its network using the credentials of three corporate employees and had full access for 229 days—more than sufficient time to compromise the database server.

Customers were asked to consider changing their passcodes. Financial data, such as credit card information, was kept different and was not corrupted. At the time, the company was chastised for a miscommunication with its users and poor execution of the password-renewal procedure.

  • Heartbleed

Year: 2012-2014

Details: Heartbleed was not a virus; instead, it was a bug that had been inadvertently introduced into OpenSSL. This enabled attackers to develop a backdoor into databases. It is claimed that this is the most significant cyberattack in history, with some reports claiming that it impacted nearly 17 percent of all websites.

It allowed attackers to obtain access to personal discussions without the users’ knowledge because they planted a portal in the system that allowed them to access the information at any time. The bug had been active for nearly two years before it could be discovered in 2014 by Google Security.

  • Twitter:

Year: 2020

Details: Three individuals breached the major social media company in July, resulting in many other high-profile Twitter accounts hijacking. The hackers stole staff members’ credentials and got access to the company’s internal management systems via a social engineering attack, later reported by Twitter to be device phishing; Hundreds of high-profile accounts were compromised, including that of former President Barack Obama, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The cybercriminals then used the account information to tweet out bitcoin frauds, which netted them more than $100,000.

Now that you have read the top five cyberattacks that were severely scandalous, it is best to keep an eye on how disclosed your information on the internet is and make sure to hire responsible professional IT Support for your business.

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