Skip to content

TechRepublic

  • Top Products Lists
  • Developer
  • 5G
  • Security
  • Cloud
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Tech & Work
  • Mobility
  • Big Data
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • CES
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Top Products Lists
  • Developer
  • 5G
  • Security
  • Cloud
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Tech & Work
  • Mobility
  • Big Data
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • CES
  • See All Topics
  • Sponsored
  • Newsletters
  • Forums
  • Resource Library
TechRepublic Premium
Join / Sign In
Security

Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

By Dan Patterson December 6, 2016, 10:24 AM PST

Image
1
of 8

istockleolintang.jpg
istockleolintang.jpg
Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

Business hacks are expensive but preventable

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Business hacks are expensive but preventable

Hacks are costly for small business, massive enterprise corporations, and government agencies. According to ZDNet in 2016 nearly 3,000 hacks resulted in the public disclosure of 2.2 billion sensitive records. Nearly all of these records were or are still available to purchase on the Dark Web and hacker forums like 0day.today (link requires Tor).

Because they lack the resources of enterprise corporations, small businesses are particularly vulnerable. Data recovery firm Carbonite claims that hacks cost business $82,200 to $256,000 per incident. “Small business owners are becoming an increasingly critical part to our economy and it’s crucial that their security is taken into account as much as larger organizations,” said Carbonite’s chief evangelist Norman Guadagno in a recent interview with TechRepublic.

SEE: How risk analytics can help your organization plug security holes (Tech Pro Research)

Enterprise companies and government organizations face vulnerabilities from “external and internal threats, viruses and ransomware, and foreign cyberattacks,” Guadagno said. Breaches can cost millions in material and brand damages and expose massive piles of sensitive records. The high stakes of a potential hack, Guadagno said, should be a reminder that cybersecurity must be “a big priority for [business] owners.”

One of the best ways to protect your own business is to learn about previous attacks, Guadagno advised. Use the arrows on the images above to toggle through a list of 2016’s biggest business and government hacks.

Read more

  • Interview with a hacker: S1ege from Ghost Squad Hackers (TechRepublic)
  • Poll: What new cybersecurity trends will dominate 2017? (TechRepublic)
  • Five essential cybersecurity audiobooks (TechRepublic)
  • Five essential cybersecurity podcasts for IT professionals (TechRepublic)
  • 2017 cybercrime trends: Expect a fresh wave of ransomware and IoT hacks (TechRepublic)
  • Cyberwar: The smart person’s guide (TechRepublic)
  • How to safely access and navigate the Dark Web (TechRepublic)
  • IT Security in the Snowden Era (ZDNet)
  • How the Dark Web works (ZDNet)
  • Cybersecurity sleuths learn to think like hackers (CNET)
  • Inside look at the race to outsmart hackers (CBS News)
Getty Images/iStockphoto
yahoo-hq-620x371610x365.jpg
yahoo-hq-620x371610x365.jpg
Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

Yahoo!

Yahoo!

One theme dominated cybersecurity trends in 2016: Change your password. 2016’s biggest corporate hack was the revelation that a 2014 Yahoo hack–allegedly perpetrated by the group known as Pease–exposed the private information of more than half a billion accounts.

Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

The DNC, DNCC, and Clinton Foundation

CNET

The DNC, DNCC, and Clinton Foundation

Embarrassing email and other data from the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton Foundation, and other accounts related to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton were hacked in early 2016. Data trickled out through the summer via the Guccifer 2.0 website and Wikileaks, and resulted in key staff changes within the Democratic establishment.

CNET
Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

Dyn DDoS

Dyn DDoS

On Friday, October 21, 2016, the internet went dark. A massive DDoS attack targeted at DNS provider Dyn prevented millions of users in major economic hubs like New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Boston from accessing major websites, including Twitter, Amazon, and Netflix.

Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

Bitfinex

CNET

Bitfinex

Bitcoin has the potential to change global finance. For now, however, the world’s most widely used crytopcurrency remains a magnet for criminals. In August exchange platform Bitfinex stopped trading following the news that hackers stole 119,756 Bitcoins valued at $65 million from hosted wallets. Though the exchange is back online, the hack helped undermine confidence in Bitcoin and unregulated markets.

CNET
Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

NSA Cyber-munitions

NSA Cyber-munitions

The US government develops and stockpiles cyber-munitions–weaponized, malicious code that spies on and sabotages target systems. In August, a group known as The Shadow Brokers stole and auctioned what the group claimed were hacking tools created by the Equation Group, the NSA’s hacking arm.

Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

Adult Friend Finder

CNET

Adult Friend Finder

Sensitive information, including usernames, passwords, and last visit records for nearly 400 million accounts, as well as 15 million “deleted” accounts still in the database, were swiped from the Adult Friend Finder network in November. Ahem…change your password.

CNET
Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

Wendy's

CNET

Wendy's

At the fast-food restaurant Wendy’s you can get a get an “old fashioned hamburger.” If you bought that burger with a credit card, your data might have been stolen. In July the company announced that malware had likely infected computers in 1,025 of its 5,144 franchise stores. Delicious!

Read more TechRepublic cybersecurity stories.

CNET
  • Security
  • Account Information

    Share with Your Friends

    Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

    Your email has been sent

Share: Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016
Image of Dan Patterson
By Dan Patterson
Dan is a writer, reporter, and producer. He is currently a reporter for at CBS News and was previously a Senior Writer for TechRepublic.
  • Account Information

    Contact Dan Patterson

    Your message has been sent

  • |
  • See all of Dan's content

TechRepublic Premium

  • TechRepublic Premium

    Media disposal policy

    PURPOSE This Media disposal policy from TechRepublic Premium provides specific instructions for ensuring organization data is properly protected when disposing of old storage media. From the policy: POLICY DETAILS When disposing of damaged, unusable, obsolete, off-lease, decommissioned, old, or end-of-service-life equipment and media, the organization requires that the guidelines outlined herein be followed: Hard drives, ...

    Published:  March 30, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 31, 2023, 11:06 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    IT email templates: Upcoming software release

    PURPOSE To take some of the effort out of writing (and rewriting) emails to share with company staff and executives, TechRepublic Premium has assembled basic templates to handle the most common types of communications. Simply copy the text into your favorite word processor and customize it to fit your needs. Then, paste it into an ...

    Published:  March 30, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 31, 2023, 11:29 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Mobile app development policy

    PURPOSE The purpose of this policy from TechRepublic Premium is to provide guidelines for developing mobile applications from a security, procedural and best practices standpoint. While it contains technical guidelines, it is not intended to serve as a programming guide but as a framework for operations. This policy can be customized as needed to fit ...

    Published:  March 29, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 30, 2023, 4:43 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    New client audit checklist

    PURPOSE This checklist from TechRepublic Premium provides a method for auditing and documenting a client site and assembling an inventory of systems and software, as well as giving you a framework for developing recommendations, applying costs to them, and storing all that information in one file. Tracking client contact details, circuit information, network equipment, cloud ...

    Published:  March 29, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT Modified:  March 30, 2023, 4:54 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium

Services

  • About Us
  • Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Site Map
  • Site Help & Feedback
  • FAQ
  • Advertise
  • Do Not Sell My Information

Explore

  • Downloads
  • TechRepublic Forums
  • Meet the Team
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Resource Library
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • TechRepublic
  • TechRepublic on Twitter
  • TechRepublic on Facebook
  • TechRepublic on LinkedIn
  • TechRepublic on Flipboard
© 2023 TechnologyAdvice. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Property of TechnologyAdvice