It would be true to name 2017 as a year of hacks and security breaches. Security breaches in 2017 have shaken the world. And while it was damaging enough, it has a positive impact as well; it has opened the eyes of companies as well as general public and offered a glimpse of the future if we do not start taking the security of our digital world seriously. Following are the 9 major security breaches in 2017 that shook the world.
Electric Grid Warning – January 2017
U.S. Energy Department put out a warning that the electric grid is under threat from the hackers.
Cloudbleed – February 2017
A security flaw in Cloudflare caused the exposure of thousands of passwords of various websites. Famous websites like Uber, Fitbit, and OKCupid were affected by the security breach.
Vault 7 – March 2017
WikiLeaks released a compilation of CIA’s hacking tools code-named “Vault 7.” CIA devised these tools to spy on people and taking control of their devices.
French Election Hack – April 2017
Emmanuel Macron’s campaigned told that they received phishing emails. However, no loss has been reported.
WannaCry – May 2017
One of the deadliest ransomware attacks ever seen, WannaCry affected 100 countries and 200,000 computers. It exploited outdated Windows operating system and encrypted the users’ files for ransom.
NotPetya – June 2017
Even deadlier than WannaCry, NotPetya security breach in 2017 hit the large businesses, especially in Europe. Affected businesses include Maersk, FedEx, and Merck.
Voting Machines – July 2017
This is not an actual hack but a white hat demonstration of it. At DEFCON hacking conference in Las Vegas, a group of white hat hackers demonstrated that the voting machines used in the U.S. can be hacked within an hour.
HBO
A hacker stole 1.5 terabytes of data including shows like Game of Thrones and Silicon Valley.
Equifax – September 2017
The credit monitor company, which collects user’s sensitive financial data without their permission, lost the data of 145.5 million users to the hackers.
