Browsing the internet is a popular pastime, so it’s important to be aware of digital security breaches – especially on your favorite sites. Business Insider states, “since January 2017 at least 16 retailers were hacked and likely had information stolen from them.” With Halloween right around the corner and October being Cyber Security Month, we thought there has never been a better time to compile a list of cyber security horror stories!
Adidas hack
In June 2018, Adidas reported a breach affecting its online U.S. store. Fortunately, the hackers did not gain access to credit card information, but they did get ahold of plenty of sensitive data, like email addresses, physical addresses and login information. Although Adidas didn’t report an exact number of people who were affected, they did admit to the breach impacting “a few million.”
Facebook data breach
Facebook is familiar with its fair share of data breaches. This is bound to happen with a platform that has over 2 billion users. A Facebook breach is particularly scary given the amount of delicate information users share on the site both privately (through its messenger app) and publicly.
In September 2018, Facebook stated 30 million of their users were affected by the most recent breach, and 14 million of those users had their login and recent search history stolen. It is likely when a breach on a large-scale social media site occurs, hackers gain access to personal information such as phone numbers, location, relationship status, race, sexual orientation and more.
Interested in learning more about Facebook data controversy? Check out this blog we wrote back in April.
My Fitness Pal app hack
The MyFitnessPal app, owned by Under Armour, is a popular fitness and nutrition tracking app that has garnered hundreds of millions of users over the years. In March 2018, Under Armour alerted the My Fitness Pal consumers that over 150 million people were affected by a breach where login information and email addresses were stolen. Fortunately, the hackers had no way of gaining access to sensitive data such as payment and location information.
We know these tales are scary to business owners, but they’re all avoidable. Contact us about your cyber security concerns or needs and we’ll be happy to assist. https://dfdrconsulting.com/contact-us/