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

Account Information

Join or sign in

Register for your free TechRepublic membership or if you are already a member, sign in using your preferred method below.

Use Facebook
Use Linkedin

Join or sign in

We recently updated our Terms and Conditions for TechRepublic Premium. By clicking continue, you agree to these updated terms.

Welcome back!

Invalid email/username and password combination supplied.

Reset password

An email has been sent to you with instructions on how to reset your password.

Welcome to TechRepublic!

All fields are required. Username must be unique. Password must be a minimum of 6 characters and have any 3 of the 4 items: a number (0 through 9), a special character (such as !, $, #, %), an uppercase character (A through Z) or a lowercase (a through z) character (no spaces).

Loading
Security

Gallery: The 10 biggest business hacks of 2016

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

Image
1
of 8
Previous Next

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

    How to recruit and hire a Scrum Master

    Recruiting a Scrum Master with the right combination of technical expertise and experience will require a comprehensive screening process. This hiring kit provides a customizable framework your business can use to find, recruit and ultimately hire the right person for the job. This hiring kit from TechRepublic Premium includes a job description, sample interview questions ...

    Downloads
    Published:  August 5, 2022, 5:00 PM PDT Modified:  August 7, 2022, 4:00 AM PDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Web 3.0 quick glossary

    Knowing the terminology associated with Web 3.0 is going to be vital to every IT administrator, developer, network engineer, manager and decision maker in business. This quick glossary will introduce and explain concepts and terms vital to understanding Web 3.0 and the technology that drives and supports it.

    Downloads
    Published:  August 4, 2022, 5:00 PM PDT Modified:  August 7, 2022, 1:00 AM PDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    How to recruit and hire a User Experience Designer

    While the perfect color palette or the most sublime button shading or myriad of other design features play an important role in any product’s success, user interface design is not enough. Customer engagement and retention requires a strategic plan that attempts to measure, quantify and ultimately create a complete satisfying user experience on both an ...

    Published:  August 4, 2022, 5:00 PM PDT Modified:  August 7, 2022, 3:00 AM PDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Industrial Internet of Things: Software comparison tool

    IIoT software assists manufacturers and other industrial operations with configuring, managing and monitoring connected devices. A good IoT solution requires capabilities ranging from designing and delivering connected products to collecting and analyzing system data once in the field. Each IIoT use case has its own diverse set of requirements, but there are key capabilities and ...

    Downloads
    Published:  May 26, 2022, 5:00 PM PDT Modified:  May 28, 2022, 8:00 AM PDT 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
© 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Property of TechnologyAdvice