2019 in Cyber Attacks – The Bad, the Ugly, and the Worst

The year is far from over, yet it seems that cyber-attacks just keep coming. What’s worse is that no countermeasures appear to make any difference. According to estimates, ransomware attacks produced $11.5 billion worth of damage.

And that’s not the worst part – vpnMentor, the cybersecurity company who discovered the Tech Data leak in early June, stated that one in four companies would experience some form of cyberaggression.

Startups are most vulnerable since it’s next to impossible to deploy a strong security net in the first months of business. In seeing how the cyber attacks have increased exponentially, I have decided to show you the worst cybernetic aggressions of 2019. Enjoy and stay safe out there!

#1. Singapore Healthcare Breach

In early January, Singapore’s Minister of Health stated that due to a vulnerability in the National Healthcare network, a hacker managed to steal data on over 14,000 HIV-positive patients.

The incident report reveals that the hacked records contained personal info such as phone numbers and home addresses. Singapore’s Government has yet to determine who was behind the attack or what became of the stolen information.

#2. Facebook User Records Made Public

In April, Facebook discovered that more than 540 million records were stored on two unsecured AWS servers. The data included IDs, account names, and info on user interaction. According to the company, the two servers belonged to a third-party partner.

#3. Georgia Tech Breach

During the same month, Georgia Institute of Technology IT technicians discovered that data on 1.3 million students and former students simply vanished. The problem has been traced back to vulnerability in the University’s web application, which potentially granted anyone access to the database.

#4. Office of Australian Information Commissioner Breach

In early May, an Office of the Australian Commissioner spokesperson revealed that the personal records of 10 million citizens were exposed. There have been no incidents so far. The OAIC has yet to determine how the data leak occurred.

#5. First American Social Security Theft

The First American, one of the biggest insurances and real estate players, reported a data breach in April. Interestingly enough, although the incident’s been disclosed in April, these things have been going on since 2003.

The incident report states that over 885 million records were exposed. All of them contained sensitive info such as financial data, transaction records, social security number, and even pictures of car plates. The world part is that the vulnerability made the info available on the company’s official website.

#6. AMCA Data Breach

In June, Quest Diagnostic revealed that the medical data of over 11 million patients were leaked. The subsequent investigation revealed that AMCA, the company’s billing partner, stored the data on an unsecured server. The hacker was able to steal the patients’ financial and medical information without leaving any traces.

Conclusion

2019 doesn’t look too good in terms of cyber aggressions, does it? Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. The year’s far from over, so we can expect more incidents in the months to follow.

What are your thoughts on these cyber-attacks? Head to the comments section and let me know.

About Daniel Sadler

Old-school PC gamer, poetry buff, cat lover, tech wiz. His writing career began almost two decades ago when he modestly acknowledged that hindsight or, lack thereof, can compromise security. He enjoys spending quality time with his friends and family. Most of his friends refer to Daniel as a "man of a few words, but, man, what words!" His interests include cybersecurity, IT, blogging, and, of course, everything related to technology.

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