Unfortunately, there were many hacks throughout the last year. Which ones were the largest ones? Here is a list of six hacks of last year.
The US Office of Personnel Management Hack
Nobody is sure who was behind this hack. However, some believe that Chinese hackers were behind it. Addresses, financial details and health details of more than 19 million people were stolen, and these were people who have been subjected to background checks.
The FBI Portal Breach
In November, a portal used by FBI and police was hacked. Thieves managed to steal data on people who were arrested, but the figures were not made public. However, this hack is considered to be one of the largest hacks on law enforcement this year. The hackers who accessed John Breenan’s personal email account were responsible for this one.
Ashley Madison
This infidelity site was hacked into in 2015 and a lot of data was stolen. In fact, hackers managed to crack many passwords and credit card details were stolen, and more than 11 million users names were leaked onto the web. As a result, the CEO of the site resigned and the share price dropped too. Currently, the company is faced with a number of class actions from both investors and clients.
TalkTalk
In October, the United Kingdom experienced one of its largest hacks, as TalkTalk suffered an attack. The mobile phone provider was targeted by hackers who managed to steal data belonging to over 20,000 consumers. The good news is the hackers were dealt with after they were identified, but TalkTalk was left with a bill worth millions and now they are subjected to numerous lawsuits from both investors and customers.
Carphone Warehouse
Another breach in the UK was the Carphone Warehouse, which had around 2 million customers’ data stolen in August. Around 90,000 encrypted credit card info was stolen too. The hack is still being investigated, and as of now nobody is really sure who was behind the massive hack.
Numerous Financial Institutions And Media Companies
Hackers managed to steal details of more than 100 million consumers who had back accounts with various banks. Nine banks and other financial institutions were the victim of the attack, and this included Dow Jones and JP Morgan. Hackers were able to make money from illicit and illegal activities, such as running gambling sites and inflating stock prices. The good news is three men were arrested and prosecuted.
The issue was also a real one for a number of Australian banks and the CBA, NAB, ANZ and Westpac banking apps were targeted by malware in March. You can see the impact, if any, it had on the NAB share price and the others on shareprices.com.au.
Those were the most severe hack attacks of last year. There are other attacked, but those are some of the most major ones. Hacking is a very serious issue and it raises security concerns for everyone.