A Look Back at Recent Data Security Breaches
Summary
The year is 2014 and it does not look like is getting tougher day by day. Many firms have felt the impact of data breaches in the past. The tech industry seems the most vulnerable with every day bringing the world another security breach.
Take a look back at some of the largest data breaches in the last 12 months.
The Heartbleed Debacle
One of the biggest data breaches in history, the Heartbleed security flaw went undetected for almost years before being discovered in April 2014.
The exploit impacted about 17 percent of the Web's secure servers making passwords weak to theft-information, which was normally guarded by SSL/TLS encryption.
Leading corporates such as Amazon, Tumblr, Wordpress,
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Developed Portal of Apple Hacked
In July 2013, tech titan Apple reported that its developer site, which houses tools and resources for programming Apple products, was compromised.
The developer site was offline for three days and Apple stated it was possible that paid user accounts may have been hacked.
The Snowden-NSA Battle
In June 2013, the government of United States suffered what is considered as one of the worst revelations on classified information in its history.
Former infrastructure analyst and NSA admin Edward Snowden has accessed and leaked classified information to media and public.
This unwarranted NSA hacking had a damaging impact on America's international relations, and put a spotlight on the current security problems faced by United States.
Sally Beauty Data Breach
In February 2013, leading beauty supplies retailer Sally Beauty noticed an unusual network activity.
Upon investigation, it was found that around 25,000 customer records were stolen. The siphoned records contained credit/debit card
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Neiman Marcus Data Breach
American luxury specialty store Neiman Marcus reported that around 1.1 million credit/debit card numbers may have been stolen from July to October 2013.
It was reported that hackers infiltrated and infected payment terminals at Neiman Marcus outlets.
Since the luxury store does not use PIN pads, no PIN data was stolen, but only track data from credit/debit card's magnetic strips.
Social Media Sites Hacked
In November 2013, hackers stole usernames and encrypted passwords of about 2 million accounts across social media sites.
The websites affected include Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Gmail.
Adobe Data Breach
In October 2013, Adobe reported the loss of 3 million customer card records and an undetermined number of login data.
According to the report, around 38 million Adobe users were impact by the hack.
Along with user data, source code for Photoshop was also reportedly stolen.
Living Social Data Breach
In April 2014, daily deal site Living Social fell victim to a massive data breach that impacted more than 50 million
However, I feel users had a different vision/perspective on security mechanisms and they trusted each other during those times and did not have to worry about protecting their information (this is how exactly, one person’s ignorance becomes another’s person’s - hacker, here bliss). This book helps us to understand the vulnerabilities; its impacts and why it is important to address/ fix those holes.
Issa utilizes statistics to suggest ideas. He says, “The Office of Personnel Management’s security breach resulted in the theft of 22 million Americans’ information, including fingerprints, Social Security numbers, addresses, employment history, and financial records” (Issa). Issa also adds that, “The Internal Revenue Service’s hack left as many as 334,000 taxpayers accounts compromised‑though just this week, the IRS revised that number to o...
Neiman Marcus shared news of the breach on January 1, 2014. The Secret Service and Attorneys General of Connecticut and Illinois are currently investigating the breach, which many believe is connected to the Target security breach. The breach is not thought to have targeted online purchases and did not access customers’ PIN data or Social Security numbers. Authorities believe the same group of hackers in Eastern Europe is responsible for both incidents, which may be connected to an even larger cyber attack.
A huge security breach happened at Equifax which exposed sensitive data like Social Security numbers and addresses. The customers don’t even know that their data has been breached. Equifax gets its data from credit card companies, banks, retailers and lenders sometimes without you knowing. The company has found no evidence of unauthorized activity on Equifax's core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases. Equifax has created the website where
Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (N.S.A) subcontractor turned whistle-blower is nothing short of a hero. His controversial decision to release information detailing the highly illegal ‘data mining’ practices of the N.S.A have caused shockwaves throughout the world and have raised important questions concerning how much the government actually monitors its people without their consent or knowledge. Comparable to Mark Felt in the Watergate scandals, Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers, Edward Snowden joins the rank of infamous whistleblowers who gave up their jobs, livelihood, and forever will live under scrutiny of the public all in the service to the American people. Edward Snowden released information detailing the extent of the N.S.A breaches of American privacy and in doing so, became ostracized by the media and barred from freely reentering America, his home country.
Lynn said that “ over the past few years, all manner of data has been stolen, some of it mundane, some of it concerning our most sensitive systems, including aircraft avionics, surveillance technologies, satellite communications, and network security protocols.” He also acknowledged that the Defense Department lost 24,000 files in cyber attacks by foreign intruders in March 2011.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Introduction The credit-reporting bureau Equifax disclosed one the largest data breach in modern history, reporting that private information and social security numbers 143 million consumers. Initially the breach happened in May through July and was not discovered until July 29, no evidence of unauthorized access to databases (John). Analyzing key issues what went wrong with the leader, what went wrong on the end of the security part of the I.T. department, and highlighting some ways the consumers can be proactive in protecting their private information. Highlights of the Issues
According to Adobe initially it was said that over 2.9 million customers personal data has been breached during the cyber-attack by the hackers and is also believed to be that there is some data deletion done relating to the 2.9 million customers who were affected by this breach. The cybe...
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The breach started through a contracting company called Fazio Mechanical Services, Inc. (FSM). FSM is a HVAC contractor “connected to Target’s systems to do electronic billing, contract submission, and project management.” (Goche & De Metz, 2014) The start of the data breach madness beg...
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