Biggest cyber attacks in history

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When you hear "hacker," what comes to mind? Is it the popularized image of an unknown hooded figure stealing identities from an eerie basement? The truth is that hacking, just like technology, has transformed into a wildly scary and yet, also extremely intriguing subject that continues to evolve. But how did hackers come about? It all began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1959 as a group of students in the Tech Model Railroad Club tested the limits of their model train sets. The club members broke into the high-tech system that controls the trains to modify their functions and control the lanes and switches. These computer wizards called themselves hackers , but the event proved to be a harmless attempt to explore and improve the limits of the existing program. Today, hacking is synonymous with illegally accessing a system or device. Hackers gain access through various tactics, ranging from technical, like viruses or malware , to social engineering , a method involving psychological tricks that get the victim to click on an attachment or share personal data with the hacker. Let's take a closer look at how hackers have used technical and social engineering tactics to pull off these five major hacks. 1. Citibank In 1994, Vladimir Levin engineered the first big-money heist by hacking into Citibank's telephone and computer systems and stealing $10 million. The hack occurred around the time that many banks were going digital to lower costs and improve cust...

Security experts say the outages stem from one of the biggest cyberattacks they've ever seen. These Banks get hit by cyberattackers all the time and typically have some of the best defenses against them. This time, they were outgunned. "The volume of traffic sent to these sites is frankly unprecedented," said Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of To carry out the cyberattacks, the attackers got hold of thousands of high-powered application servers and pointed them all at the targeted banks. That Denial of service attacks are an effective but unsophisticated tool that doesn't involve any actual hacking. No data was stolen from the banks, and their transactional systems -- like their ATM networks -- remained unaffected. The aim of the attacks was simply to temporarily knock down the banks' public-facing websites. To get hold of all the servers necessary to launch such huge attacks, the organizers needed to plan for months, Alperovitch said. The servers had to be compromised and linked together into a network called a "botnet." That level of pre-planning is a deviation from the kinds of denial of service attacks launched at banks in the past by The Islamist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks in what it called "Operation Ababil," but researchers are divided about how seriously to take their claims. The group has launched attacks in the past, but those have been far less coordinated than the recent batch. Sen. Joe Lieberman, an...

In a matter of hours, 35,000 computers were partially wiped or totally destroyed. Without a way to pay them, gasoline tank trucks seeking refills had to be turned away. Saudi Aramco's ability to supply 10% of the world's oil was suddenly at risk. And one of the most valuable companies on Earth was propelled back into 1970s technology, using typewriters and faxes. When it comes to sheer cost, The average person has never heard about Saudi Aramco -- or this hack. But we all felt its mysterious reverberations. Until now, little of this was publicly known. But Chris Kubecka, a former security advisor to Saudi Aramco after the hack, spoke to CNNMoney about her experience. She told the tale ahead of her presentation about it Thursday at the Black Hat hacking conference in Las Vegas. CNNMoney asked Saudi Aramco to confirm Kubecka's account, but the firm did not respond to a request for comment. Somebody was duped It started sometime in mid-2012, Kubecka recalled. One of the computer technicians on Saudi Aramco's information technology team opened a scam email and clicked on a bad link. The hackers were in. The actual attack began during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when most Saudi Aramco employees were on holiday. On the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, the few employees noticed their computers were acting weird. Screens started flickering. Files began to disappear. Some computers just shut down without explanation. That morning, a group calling itself "Cutting Sword of...

Contributed by George Mack, Content Marketing Manager, Check Point Software Cyber security has evolved significantly throughout the years. Much of it can be attributed to the constant cat-and-mouse game between hackers and cyber security vendors. Whenever threat actors developed a crafty, new cyber attack, security researchers were forced to innovate to stay one step ahead. However, what does the evolution of cyber security look like? What was the very first cyber threat? Who invented the first antivirus detection system? Understanding the history of cyber security is crucial in navigating today’s ever-evolving landscape. By understanding the origins and milestones of our industry, we gain valuable insights into the motivations, techniques, and patterns of threat actors. Furthermore, understanding the evolution of cyber security helps us appreciate the remarkable advancements made in our field throughout the years. In this article, we will explore cyber security’s early beginnings and notable milestones that have shaped the industry into what it is today. While many attribute the birth of cyber security to the 1970s, its true history dates back even further. 1940s: Theory of the computer virus In the 1940s, with the invention of the first digital computer, the concept of computer viruses was first imagined. Computer pioneer John von Neumann proposed the idea of computer programs that could replicate, introducing the notion of computer viruses. However, cyber threats were n...

The rising trend in data breaches continues to angle upwards, and as a result, there has never been a more precarious time in history to launch and maintain a successful business. To prevent the repetition of mistakes that result in As you’ll see, even prestigious companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are vulnerable to the rising trend of data breaches. You may also be interested in our list of biggest data breaches in the Date: March 2020 Impact: 10.88 billion records. Adult video streaming website The breached records included the following • Full names • Email addresses • Sexual orientation • Chat transcripts • Email correspondence transcripts • Password hashes • IP addresses • Payment logs Many of the exposed email addresses are linked to cloud storage services. If hackers were to launch successful Due to the licentious connection of the breached database, compromised users could fall victim to blackmail and defamation attempts for many years to come. 2. Yahoo Data Breach (2017) Date: October 2017 Impact: 3 billion accounts However, by October of 2017, Yahoo changed the estimate to 3 billion user accounts. An investigation revealed that users' passwords in clear text, payment card data and bank information were not stolen. Nonetheless, this remains one of the largest data breaches of this type in history. 3. Aadhaar Data Breach Date: March 2018 Impact: 1.1 billion people In March of 2018, it became public that the personal information of more than a billion In...

1. Yahoo! Date: 2013-2016 Impact: Over 3 billion user accounts exposed The data breach of A team of Russian hackers targeted Yahoo’s database using backdoors, stolen backups, and access cookies to steal records from all user accounts, which included • Names • Email addresses • Phone numbers • Birth dates • Passwords • Calendars • Security questions Initially, Yahoo reported stolen data from about 1 billion accounts. However, after 2. Microsoft Date: January 2021 Impact: 30,000 US companies (60,000 companies worldwide) For three months, hackers took advantage of a few coding errors to allow them to take control of vulnerable systems. They only needed two conditions to break into each individual company’s email servers: • Connection to the internet • On-premises, locally managed systems Once they were in, they could request access to data, deploy Though In July 2021, the 3. First American Financial Corp. Date: May 2019 Impact: 885 million file records leaked In 2019, Due to a website design error called Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR), access to private information was allowed without needing verification or authentication procedures. As a result, anyone with a link to the documents could view them freely. On top of that, because First American logged their records in sequential order, users could simply change the number in the URL to view other customer records. Approximately 885 million files were exposed, including: • Bank account numbers • Bank statements • Mort...

Security experts say the outages stem from one of the biggest cyberattacks they've ever seen. These Banks get hit by cyberattackers all the time and typically have some of the best defenses against them. This time, they were outgunned. "The volume of traffic sent to these sites is frankly unprecedented," said Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of To carry out the cyberattacks, the attackers got hold of thousands of high-powered application servers and pointed them all at the targeted banks. That Denial of service attacks are an effective but unsophisticated tool that doesn't involve any actual hacking. No data was stolen from the banks, and their transactional systems -- like their ATM networks -- remained unaffected. The aim of the attacks was simply to temporarily knock down the banks' public-facing websites. To get hold of all the servers necessary to launch such huge attacks, the organizers needed to plan for months, Alperovitch said. The servers had to be compromised and linked together into a network called a "botnet." That level of pre-planning is a deviation from the kinds of denial of service attacks launched at banks in the past by The Islamist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks in what it called "Operation Ababil," but researchers are divided about how seriously to take their claims. The group has launched attacks in the past, but those have been far less coordinated than the recent batch. Sen. Joe Lieberman, an...

The rising trend in data breaches continues to angle upwards, and as a result, there has never been a more precarious time in history to launch and maintain a successful business. To prevent the repetition of mistakes that result in As you’ll see, even prestigious companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are vulnerable to the rising trend of data breaches. You may also be interested in our list of biggest data breaches in the Date: March 2020 Impact: 10.88 billion records. Adult video streaming website The breached records included the following • Full names • Email addresses • Sexual orientation • Chat transcripts • Email correspondence transcripts • Password hashes • IP addresses • Payment logs Many of the exposed email addresses are linked to cloud storage services. If hackers were to launch successful Due to the licentious connection of the breached database, compromised users could fall victim to blackmail and defamation attempts for many years to come. 2. Yahoo Data Breach (2017) Date: October 2017 Impact: 3 billion accounts However, by October of 2017, Yahoo changed the estimate to 3 billion user accounts. An investigation revealed that users' passwords in clear text, payment card data and bank information were not stolen. Nonetheless, this remains one of the largest data breaches of this type in history. 3. Aadhaar Data Breach Date: March 2018 Impact: 1.1 billion people In March of 2018, it became public that the personal information of more than a billion In...

When you hear "hacker," what comes to mind? Is it the popularized image of an unknown hooded figure stealing identities from an eerie basement? The truth is that hacking, just like technology, has transformed into a wildly scary and yet, also extremely intriguing subject that continues to evolve. But how did hackers come about? It all began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1959 as a group of students in the Tech Model Railroad Club tested the limits of their model train sets. The club members broke into the high-tech system that controls the trains to modify their functions and control the lanes and switches. These computer wizards called themselves hackers , but the event proved to be a harmless attempt to explore and improve the limits of the existing program. Today, hacking is synonymous with illegally accessing a system or device. Hackers gain access through various tactics, ranging from technical, like viruses or malware , to social engineering , a method involving psychological tricks that get the victim to click on an attachment or share personal data with the hacker. Let's take a closer look at how hackers have used technical and social engineering tactics to pull off these five major hacks. 1. Citibank In 1994, Vladimir Levin engineered the first big-money heist by hacking into Citibank's telephone and computer systems and stealing $10 million. The hack occurred around the time that many banks were going digital to lower costs and improve cust...