Once more unto the (data) breach, dear friends.
2017 was notable for some massive data breaches, unintended exposures of sensitive information on the internet and other unfortunate tech incidents. Some were intentional (looking at you, North Korea), and some were not (hello Equifax, nice of you to join us).
2018 probably won’t be any better.
Despite the promise of advancements in fields like AI and machine learning, and despite the hope that we would learn from our mistakes and adhere to better practices in the future, it isn’t clear yet those technologies ― or our own marginally improved habits ― will adequately defend us against increasingly more sophisticated attacks.
That conclusion comes from the cyber security company UpGuard, which detailed our current information security environment and the risks to it in its annual cyber risk report published Dec. 18.
“Unfortunately, with the increased pervasiveness of information technology, there has been no concomitant revolution in how professionals tasked with administering these increasingly multifaceted and complex systems do their jobs,” the authors said.
“Indeed, they are fighting this battle with weapons from the last war, and the results have been disastrous.”
With that in mind, here’s a look back at some of this year’s other notable data breaches, leaks and hacks:
Equifax
In September, consumer credit ratings agency Equifax revealed hackers had stolen the personal details of 143 million Americans (roughly half of all Americans), including highly sensitive information like their Social Security numbers.
Even more infuriating: Equifax waited five months to tell anyone. (The hack itself happened in the spring.) Then it bungled its response, initially forcing those affected to sign a legal document prohibiting them from joining a class-action suit, then inadvertently directing potential victims to a fake phishing site which proceeded to steal yet more information.
Dallas Emergency Sirens
Just before midnight on a Friday in early April, all 156 of the city of Dallas’ emergency sirens started sounding, simultaneously, for no apparent reason.
The hubbub lasted a full 90 minutes before the sirens could be manually overridden and shut down, during which time panicked residents flooded 911 with calls. Dispatchers who typically pick up within 10 seconds were so overwhelmed the wait time hit six minutes.Tornado sirens going off downtown #Dallas. pic.twitter.com/4SpNmMQLTc— Jay Hammond (@NYYankees4life) April 8, 2017
Officials blamed hackers for the intrusion into their emergency alert system ― a possibility Rocky Vaz, Dallas’ director of emergency management, said nobody had ever considered until it happened.
Deep Root Analytics
This summer, a Republican data analysis company called Deep Root Analytics left exposed a 1.1-terabyte online database containing the personal information of almost all of America’s 200 million registered voters.
In addition to the now-familiar leak of basic information like names, birthdays, addresses and phone numbers, Deep Root exposed deeply personal information about individual voters, including their likely stance on abortion, gun control, stem cell research, environmental issues and 44 other categories.
Continue Reading: 2017 Was The Year Of Hacks. 2018 Probably Won’t Be Better.
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