One of the best ways to learn in life is by learning from mistakes, however there’s a better way to learn and it’s to learn from other people or organizations mistakes! Here we want to go over five public data lakes cases published in the new just to get an idea of possible risks of data lost for organizations that sometimes are not even for profit!
Facebook: A Social Media Giant’s Misstep (2021)
In April 2021, the news erupted as details of approximately 530 million Facebook users were made freely available online. The compromised data included phone numbers, full names, and locations of users from various countries. This massive leak underscored the vital need for enhanced security measures to protect user data, highlighting the vulnerability even giant tech companies face in safeguarding information.
LinkedIn: Professional Data Exposed (2021)
A significant data leak incident occurred with LinkedIn in 2021 when the professional networking platform experienced a breach affecting 700 million users, which is about 92% of its total user base. The exposed data included emails, phone numbers, and professional details. This incident underscored the critical importance of securing user data on professional networks where sensitive career information is shared.
Capital One: Financial Breach (2019)
One of the largest data breaches to ever hit a financial services company occurred in 2019, affecting Capital One. In this event, over 100 million customer records were exposed, including names, addresses, credit scores, and other sensitive information. This massive data leak brought attention to the vulnerability in cloud services security and stressed the importance of advanced security protocols for financial institutions. read more.
Equifax: Credit Reporting Catastrophe (2017)
In 2017, Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies, fell victim to a massive data leak, affecting around 147 million people. The leak exposed sensitive information, including social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and in some cases, driver’s license numbers. This high-profile breach highlighted the significant risks associated with handling financial data and the need for stringent security measures in credit agencies. Read more.
Yahoo: A Historical Data Disaster (2013-2014)
The Yahoo data breaches, which came to light in 2016, remain among the largest in history. Occurring in 2013 and 2014, these breaches affected 3 billion and 500 million users respectively. Exposed data included names, email addresses, dates of birth, and encrypted passwords. These incidents not only marked a significant low in cybersecurity but also resulted in a substantial financial loss and reputational damage for Yahoo.
I am a software engineer with 20 years of experience of writing code, Software languages, Large scale web application, security and data protection of online digital assets in various software systems and services. I’ve decided to write and share my interests in cyber security online and information security to help and improve white hat security, safety and privacy of our online digital assets, As companies, as individuals or experts providing services. In here you’ll be able to read freely about cyber security threats, detections, common problems, services, news and everything related to information security and cyber security – enjoy and feel free to contact me via the contact page for any question.