In today’s digital day and age, staying safe and protected online is of the utmost importance. Just as it is important for individuals such as yourself, it is also imperative for businesses – especially those that are large scale and hold a lot of important customer information.
Most corporations will have immense online security measures in place to keep both their and their customers’ data safe and protected. Despite this, security breaches aren’t always unavoidable, as has been seen in some infamous hacking incidents over the years.
Here are three of the most notable hacking incidents from the past 15 years.
1. Twitter Breach (2022 & 2023)
The security of your personal data and information is often a touchy subject for many when it comes to using social media sites such as Twitter. In 2022 there would have been many people with a particularly cynical mindset towards this saying ‘I told you so’ after Twitter experienced a huge breach that resulted in a data leak.
The company’s cybersecurity practices were accused as being insufficient, which was proven in November 2022 when a hacker published data on 5.4 million twitter users, including sensitive information such as names, emails and phone numbers, to a hacker forum. Ultimately, however, the number of accounts affected grew to be as high as over 200 million, including that of some high-profile accounts.
2. The Yahoo Hacks (2013 & 2014)
Infamous for being the target of back-to-back hacking two years in a row, Yahoo was the victim of hackers in 2013 and 2014.
Initially, three billion Yahoo accounts were compromised, with information such as names, security question answers, passwords and contact details being obtained. This repeated in 2014, whereby a further 500 million accounts were hacked.
This was said to be the result of spear-phishing emails that made it through email protection measures and were sent to Yahoo employees, which baited them into clicking a link that allowed the hackers to access the Yahoo network.
3. PlayStation Network Hack (2011)
If you’re an avid gamer, then you may remember this one – it was, afterall, considered one of the largest ever data breaches at the time. Back in 2011, the PlayStation Network was forced to shut down for 23 days as a result of a targeted attack.
In this attack, bots took control over the network system and made it impossible for service to be delivered to users as well as stealing user information from over 77 million accounts.
Overall, the incident cost Sony approximately $171 million in losses.
Spam Blocking Software
As you can see, even the largest of companies can be hacked. This is why it is important to keep yourself and your private information protected from hackers.
At MailCleaner, our email and cloud antispam software keeps you protected from potential phishing attempts, offering you peace of mind that you are only receiving trustworthy emails whether you are using a private or public network.
Get in touch with us today for more information about our product and how it can help keep you safe online.