Today’s hackers are getting more sophisticated in the ways they target and exploit weaknesses in secure systems. While countless attacks go unnoticed or unreported, news of major breaches spreads quickly.
Major Security Breaches in Recent Times
It has never been more important to protect your sensitive business and personal data. Even the biggest players in the industry can be vulnerable to serious data compromise. Consider the following 5 recent major security breaches.
Neiman Marcus Breach (2014)
Dallas, Texas based high-end retail chain, Neiman Marcus’ point of sales systems were infected with malware for over three months until credit card processors noticed fraudulent activity and notified the retailer. Estimates say that the hackers pushed 1.1 million card numbers onto black markets.
Target Security Breach (2013)
Minneapolis, Minnesota based Target Retailers, were hit by hackers in what is known as one of the largest data breaches to hit a U.S retailer. Target missed internal alerts and found out about the breach when they were contacted by the Department of Justice.The hack led to 40 million credit and debit cards to be leaked onto black markets costing nearly $300 million dollars in damages. In May 2017 Target settled various court cases for $18.5 million for its part in the data breach.
J.P Morgan Data Leak (2014)
83 million customer records were stolen when J.P Morgan was infected by malware which allowed hackers to gain access to large banks networks. From here they escalated privileges using zero-day exploits and gained access to over 90 servers. Stolen data includes mortgage, credit card, and private banking details.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (2015 & 2016)
In 2015 personal information of nearly 334,000 people were stolen, combined that with the breach that occurred the very next year, and the total figure from the IRS hacks is 724,00 at-risk accounts.
US Military Veterans Data Misplaced (2009) (optional)
In 2009 the US military had a server hard drive fail and sent this hard drive off for repairs. The sensitive data was not wiped properly before being sent, which resulted in 76 million US veterans information, including social security numbers, to be stolen.
Harden Your Systems
Security breaches happen quickly and the results can be devastating. At the end of the day, if you handle sensitive customer information, it’s your responsibility to protect it. Your sensitive business data could be at risk as well. Hackers are highly intelligent, creative, and destructive and you cannot afford to leave your business network unprotected. They are searching and will find and exploit any and every vulnerability left open. Make sure yours isn’t next.
Enstep is your Houston area resource for building and maintaining a secure IT network, Contact Us today for more information.
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