5 Largest Data Breaches of 2018

It’s no secret that 2018 brought several major data breaches from some of the world’s largest and most popular brands. From compromising the integrity of Marriott’s systems to exposing over 500 million Quora users’ data, security breaches are very much a thing of the present – and they’re only getting worse. Without proper virus detection and data security practices in place, any business could be subject to these types of events. So what does this mean for security in 2019? Here is a list of 5 of the largest data breaches that took place this year.

Facebook

Questionable data protection is nothing new for Facebook. In past months, Facebook has been scrutinized over poor management of user information and their most recent software infrastructure flaws only led to further detriment. It isn’t certain when in 2018 the breach happened, but  the discovery revealed that hackers took advantage of a bug in Facebook’s birthday celebration video program, severely compromising the security of over 2.2 billion users’ data.Facebook security executives have since been working to restore their reputation when it comes to user privacy.

British Airways

Reports of hackers slipping past British Airways security programs came to light in the fall of this year. After revealing that over 240,000 of their users’ credit card information was shared, the international airline acknowledged the possibility that another 185,000 customers’ personal details were stolen in a secondary breach. While contacting affected customers, British Airways announced that they were unable to confirm how the data breach occurred, but that steps are being put in place to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

Blue Cross

Blue Cross’ most recent breach in patient data occurred due to a stolen laptop computer and potentially affected nearly 15,000 users. Though details such as financial information and social security numbers were not exposed, member information such as names, addresses, identification numbers, medications and diagnoses were shared. Officials have since begun investigating the breach as well as instructed members in what to do to moving forward.

Marriott

Word of Marriott’s compromised data systems was made public in late November, although hackers have had access to over 500 million customers’ sensitive travel information – including names, addresses, credit card information and more – for about the past 4 years. The hotel chain announced there may have been a possible breach in the encryption security intended to protect guest information – including personal travel plans. Marriott’s hotel chain includes Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis and W Hotels establishments. This isn’t the first data breach of this caliber for the travel and tourism industry and without proper security, it likely won’t be the last.

Quora

The Quora breach was no small incident – over 100 million users had their information stolen by what was reportedly a malicious third party. Information like names, email addresses, encrypted passwords and user behavior on the site was compromised in the data theft incident. Quora notified users that hackers may have record of every action taken on Quora – public or private. Execs have since let users know what steps to take to re-secure their accounts while investigations are still underway.

Any business, small or large, has the potential to be harmed by outside parties, even after implementing secure file upload best practices. Most of the time, these violations to user privacy and data are sights unseen. Do you have a virus detection plan in place for your business in 2019? To learn how to protect your data systems with Filestack virus detection, call us at (888) 415-1885 or:

Contact Sales

Read More →