8 Noteworthy Security Breaches That Prove Cybersecurity is Important

The SQL Slammer

Stuxnet worm

The first known cyberweapon, called the Stuxnet worm, was discovered in June 2010. Stuxnet infected software at 14 industrial sites in Iran, including a uranium-enrichment plant. Unlike a virus that must be downloaded to be activated, Stuxnet spread autonomously over networks. It targeted Microsoft Windows machines, Siemens Step7 software, and programmable logic controllers. This enabled the worm’s authors to spy on and sabotage industrial systems, causing centrifuges to malfunction without operators noticing.  

Sony Pictures hack

You might remember the Sony Pictures cyberattack of 2014, because it got a lot of media attention. Attackers hacked thousands of company computers and hundreds of servers using malware, stole terabytes of private data and intellectual property, and released it online. The FBI determined that the North Korean government was responsible for the attack, and threat actors used a multi-pronged type of server message block worm to infect the networks.  

Equifax data breach

In July 2017, System Administrators at the consumer credit reporting agency Equifax discovered that attackers had accessed their online dispute portal and harvested personal information of at least 145.5 million individuals. The breach was due to issues in identification, detection, database segmentation, and data governance. While Equifax took steps to improve security and notify affected individuals, U.S. federal agencies assessed Equifax’s security controls. In 2019, Equifax agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that included up to $425 million to compensate people affected by the data breach.  

WannaCry ransomware

The WannaCry ransomware attack on May 12, 2017, affected over 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries, hitting major organizations like FedEx, Honda, Nissan, and the UK’s NHS. A 22-year-old security researcher found a “kill switch” to temporarily stop the malware, but many computers remained encrypted until victims either paid the ransom or managed to decrypt their data. The ransomware spread using a vulnerability called “EternalBlue,” which the NSA had developed but was leaked by a group called the Shadow Brokers. The exploit targeted older, unpatched versions of Microsoft Windows, allowing WannaCry to spread rapidly over the course of 24 hours. 

SolarWinds hack

Facebook data breach

One of the most widespread Facebook data breaches happened in 2019, when malicious actors scraped public profiles and exposed data from over 530 million Facebook users in an unsecured database on an online forum. Malicious actors used automated software to upload large sets of phone numbers and match them to Facebook profiles to extract information. Facebook has since updated its contact importer feature to prevent scraping.