Cyber criminals enjoyed a lot throughout 2014 and they were almost
everytime in the headlines. The hacker groups have been able to grab
worldwide attention by hacking into Apple’s iCloud and the latest Sony
hack. Hackers have kept the cyber security professionals on their toes
throughout the year. Here are the nine most prominent security breaches
of 2014 which not only made the headlines but has shown the weakest side
of this so-called advanced digital era.
1. Sony attack leads to massive data loss:
It was a black day for Sony when their systems were thrown into deep shit during late November after an unknown hacker group hijacked their computers. Some media outlets accused North Korea for the crime, but the country refused any kind of involvement. FBI has concluded their investigation and they have found North Korea as responsible for the entire incident. Since then several stories about the company’s executives and Hollywood personalities have surfaced, and some critical remarks have also come into notice about U.S. President Barack Obama.
2. Target breach:
When Target was breached in early 2014, more than 40 million credit card details and more than 70 million customers’ personal data were severely compromised. It’s believed that the U.S. retail giant has upgraded their security systems after the attack. It was reported that the security team of Target has ignored several system generated warnings on the attack and the company spent around $80 million in response to the attack.
3. Dropbox hack:
An anonymous Pastebin user claimed that around seven million Dropbox account credentials have been compromised, and then the first 400 were posted directly to Pastebin with a demand for Bitcoin donations to leak more. Then some follow-up pastes also occurred, which didn’t sound as genuine ones. A blog post update on the Dropbox attack said, “A subsequent list of usernames and passwords has been posted online. We’ve checked and these are not associated with Dropbox accounts.” Dropbox kept on saying that no breach has taken place and blamed some unrelated third party services for the compromise of the accounts. Dropbox maintained that their security has not been breached.
4. Apple iCloud breach:
It gained most attention as the leaked content was quite sensitive. Hundreds of nude images of Hollywood celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were obtained from Apple’s iCloud service and then they were leaked at an event called The Fappening. Reddit became a primary source of the distribution and thereafter it was banned by the admins. Images were shared on Twitter too. Apple also maintained that they have not been hacked, but they couldn’t deny the fact that the images were obtained from iCloud only.
5. JP MORGAN CHASE & CO. Hacking:
The company spent $250 million on cyber security in 2014 but still they couldn’t prevent hackers from gaining access to their network extensively. Details of 76 million US households and 7 million SMBs were compromised and the stolen data included names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. It was believed that Russian hackers are behind this crime and also hinted at a possible state coordinated attack.
6. Chinese hacked U.S. weather systems:
Earlier this year Chinese hackers broke into four websites which belong to the U.S. federal agency that monitors weather systems. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides weather information and satellite feeds to the websites. These services were shut down for more than a week after the hack.
7. eBay hit by 145 million user data breach:
More than 145 million users were affected when a massive hack took place in eBay’s systems including their email and postal addresses as well as log-in credentials. Financial data was not stolen though.
8. Home Depot breach:
The company suffered in September when 109 million records were leaked including 56 million credit card details and 53 million email addresses. Home Depot accused a third-party vendor for the breach and hackers spread themselves through networks to steal credit card data at point-of-sale terminals.
9. Webcam hack:
A Russian website called Insecam streamed live videos from thousands of webcams. In the U.K., around 584 webcams were in display including videos from offices, factories, homes and also a pub. The firm claimed it didn’t hack security cameras, instead they got access as they were not password protected or using default passwords.
1. Sony attack leads to massive data loss:
It was a black day for Sony when their systems were thrown into deep shit during late November after an unknown hacker group hijacked their computers. Some media outlets accused North Korea for the crime, but the country refused any kind of involvement. FBI has concluded their investigation and they have found North Korea as responsible for the entire incident. Since then several stories about the company’s executives and Hollywood personalities have surfaced, and some critical remarks have also come into notice about U.S. President Barack Obama.
2. Target breach:
When Target was breached in early 2014, more than 40 million credit card details and more than 70 million customers’ personal data were severely compromised. It’s believed that the U.S. retail giant has upgraded their security systems after the attack. It was reported that the security team of Target has ignored several system generated warnings on the attack and the company spent around $80 million in response to the attack.
3. Dropbox hack:
An anonymous Pastebin user claimed that around seven million Dropbox account credentials have been compromised, and then the first 400 were posted directly to Pastebin with a demand for Bitcoin donations to leak more. Then some follow-up pastes also occurred, which didn’t sound as genuine ones. A blog post update on the Dropbox attack said, “A subsequent list of usernames and passwords has been posted online. We’ve checked and these are not associated with Dropbox accounts.” Dropbox kept on saying that no breach has taken place and blamed some unrelated third party services for the compromise of the accounts. Dropbox maintained that their security has not been breached.
4. Apple iCloud breach:
It gained most attention as the leaked content was quite sensitive. Hundreds of nude images of Hollywood celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton were obtained from Apple’s iCloud service and then they were leaked at an event called The Fappening. Reddit became a primary source of the distribution and thereafter it was banned by the admins. Images were shared on Twitter too. Apple also maintained that they have not been hacked, but they couldn’t deny the fact that the images were obtained from iCloud only.
5. JP MORGAN CHASE & CO. Hacking:
The company spent $250 million on cyber security in 2014 but still they couldn’t prevent hackers from gaining access to their network extensively. Details of 76 million US households and 7 million SMBs were compromised and the stolen data included names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. It was believed that Russian hackers are behind this crime and also hinted at a possible state coordinated attack.
6. Chinese hacked U.S. weather systems:
Earlier this year Chinese hackers broke into four websites which belong to the U.S. federal agency that monitors weather systems. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides weather information and satellite feeds to the websites. These services were shut down for more than a week after the hack.
7. eBay hit by 145 million user data breach:
More than 145 million users were affected when a massive hack took place in eBay’s systems including their email and postal addresses as well as log-in credentials. Financial data was not stolen though.
8. Home Depot breach:
The company suffered in September when 109 million records were leaked including 56 million credit card details and 53 million email addresses. Home Depot accused a third-party vendor for the breach and hackers spread themselves through networks to steal credit card data at point-of-sale terminals.
9. Webcam hack:
A Russian website called Insecam streamed live videos from thousands of webcams. In the U.K., around 584 webcams were in display including videos from offices, factories, homes and also a pub. The firm claimed it didn’t hack security cameras, instead they got access as they were not password protected or using default passwords.
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