In today’s data-centric business environment, the risk of data breaches is always increasing. Here is a list of the highest-profile disclosed data breaches of recent times.
1 – UBER
In 2017, Uber announced two individuals downloaded data from a third-party cloud server used by the ride-sharing app, containing names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers of 57 million users around the world. It was estimated that one in 10 Australians were caught up in the hack.
2 – Facebook Cambridge Analytica
While only 53 Australians actively shared their data with the “This Is Your Digital Life” app, more than 300,000 Aussies “may have” had their data improperly shared with the political consultancy group, Cambridge Analytica in 2013. (Source: abc.net.au)
3 – The Commonwealth Bank
In May 2018, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia admitted they kept quiet after losing more than 15 years of backup data for almost 20 million accounts in 2016. The misplaced personal information was recorded on tapes that were supposed to be destroyed by an IT disposal contactor on behalf of Fuji-Xerox in 2017, but the Commonwealth Bank has been unable to confirm this actually happened. (Source: abc.net.au)
Data destruction expert, G1 Asset Management Co-Founder Joel Prokic has been following KPMG’s investigations into the matter with interest.
“Despite KPMG determining the tapes were most likely destroyed, there is no data destruction certificate or confirmation of any kind to back up their conclusion,” he said.
“If Fuji Xerox followed our [G1] protocols… the Commonwealth Bank would have been able to guarantee sanitisation and ensure complete accountability.””
Joel Prokic, Operations Manager
“When we undertake disposals, there is a secure chain of custody. We track the complete history of each asset and record the serial numbers and asset tags, testing results and data destruction details and our reporting reflects this detail.”
4 – Coca-Cola
On January 24, 2014, Coca-Cola announced the personal information of about 74,000 employees, contractors and suppliers might have been compromised when several laptops containing unencrypted personal data were stolen from its Atlanta headquarters. (Source: ACFE)
5 – Verisign
Verisign admitted in an SEC filing that it suffered numerous data breaches in 2010, but that management was not informed by staff for nearly a year after they occurred. (Source: theregister.co.uk)
6 – Yahoo
The once-dominant Internet giant Yahoo (while in negotiations to sell itself to Verizon) announced it had been the victim of the biggest data breach (3 million user accounts) in history, likely by “a state-sponsored actor,” in 2014. (Source: CSO online)
7 – Target Stores
Target Stores agreed to pay $US18.5 million ($24.78 million) to settle investigations by dozens of US states over a 2013 hack of its database, where personal information of millions of customers was stolen. (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
8 – Equifax
Equifax may very well become the most expensive data breach in history. Total costs of the 2017 breach, which compromised sensitive data of more than 147 million consumers estimated to be well over $600 million. (Source: Reuters)
9 – eBay
In 2014 eBay said hackers raided its network accessing some 145 million user records in what was poised to go down as one of the biggest data breaches in history, based on the number of accounts compromised. (Source: Reuters)
10 – Debenhams
Up to 26,000 customers from flowers and gifting website, Debenhams (a prominent UK High Street Retailer) had their personal details breached after a third-party e-commerce vendor was hacked in 2017. (Source: Reuters)
Avoid falling prey to avoidable data breaches. Ensure your downstream IT asset disposal partner has stringent quality standards and data security procedures.
G1 Asset Management offers ISO accredited data sanitisation methods including various on-site data destruction options.
For more information about G1 Asset Management, visit g1.com.au.
