Cybersecurity is a huge issue these days, with major companies and organizations being hacked almost what seems like regularly.
In recent years, cyber-attacks have risen dramatically, with major companies and governments falling victim to hackers. According to Purplesec, cybercrime is up 600% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, the world is in a cyberwar, and we need to be prepared. As 9 in 10 security breaches are financially motivated.
To help you stay safe online, we’re going to take a look at some of the most serious security breaches in recent history, the lessons we can learn from them, and how to protect yourself in the future.
First, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest security breaches in recent history, and the lessons we can learn from them all. The security breaches we’ll cover are as follows:
- 1. Sina Weibo - 2020 User Information 518M Users’ Data Breach
- 2. Marriott - Fined £18.4M For 2018 500M+ Customer Records Data Breach
- 3. LinkedIn - 2012 Personal Sensitive User Data Breach Of 100M+ Users
- 4. Yahoo - 2013 Sensitive User Data Breach Of 3B+ Users
- 5. Facebook - 2019 User Profile Data Breach Of 533M+ Users
- 6. Adult Friend Finder - 2016 Sensitive User Data Breach Of 412M+ Users
- 7. MySpace - 2016 Personal User Data Breach Of 360M+ Users
- 8. Adobe - 2013 Data Breach Of 152M+ Users
- Lessons Learned From The Biggest Data And Security Breaches
- Steps To Take in Case of a Data Or Security Breach
1. Sina Weibo - 2020 User Information 518M Users’ Data Breach

In a cyber-attack affecting 518 million users, hackers gained access to passwords, personal information, and contact details stored on the popular Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo. The attackers used a combination of phishing and malware to target employees, giving them access to the company’s systems.
The attack, which happened in March 2020, is one of the top data breaches in recent history.
The hacker is said to have sold the stolen information on the dark web for only $250, a small price to pay for such a large haul of data.
Read more about this data breach here.
2. Marriott - Fined £18.4M For 2018 500M+ Customer Records Data Breach

In November 2018, hotel giant Marriott announced that hackers had gained access to the personal information of 500 million customers. The attack, which began four years earlier in 2014, exposed a huge amount of sensitive data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, and dates of birth.
The company initially tried to cover up the breach but was eventually forced to come clean after an investigation by the US authorities. Marriott has since been fined 18.4 million pounds for failing to protect customer data.
You can read more about this data breach here.
3. LinkedIn - 2012 Personal Sensitive User Data Breach Of 100M+ Users

In 2012, LinkedIn was the victim of a major data breach that affected 100 million users. Hackers gained access to user names, passwords, email addresses, and information on their education and work history.
The attack was made possible by a vulnerability in LinkedIn’s network that allowed hackers to access user data through their web browsers. LinkedIn has since fixed the security flaw and taken steps to improve its overall security.
Read more about this breach here.
4. Yahoo - 2013 Sensitive User Data Breach Of 3B+ Users

In 2013, Yahoo was hit by two massive data breaches that affected 3 billion users. According to the UK National Cyber Security Center, hackers gained access to user names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and encrypted passwords. In the second breach, they obtained unencrypted security questions and answers.
The breaches were only discovered in 2016, leading to criticism of Yahoo’s handling of the situation. The attack is considered to be the largest data breach in history.
5. Facebook - 2019 User Profile Data Breach Of 533M+ Users

In April 2019, Facebook announced that hackers had gained access to the personal information of 533 million users. The attack, which took place in July of that year, was made possible by a vulnerability in the social media platform’s code.
The hackers exploited the vulnerability to steal user IDs, phone numbers, names, genders, and dates of birth. The information was later put up for sale on a darknet site in 2021.
More information on this breach can be found in Business Insider’s post here.
6. Adult Friend Finder - 2016 Sensitive User Data Breach Of 412M+ Users

In October 2016, Adult Friend Finder was the victim of a data breach that affected more than 412 million users. The attackers gained access to user names, email addresses, passwords, dates of birth, and zip codes.
The breach was made possible by a vulnerability in the website’s security systems that allowed hackers to steal information using a simple SQL injection.
The Washington Post reported the security breach here.
7. MySpace - 2016 Personal User Data Breach Of 360M+ Users

In May 2016, it was revealed that hackers had gained access to the personal information of more than 360 million MySpace users. The attack, which took place in 2013, exposed usernames, passwords, and dates of birth.
The attackers then put up the information for sale on the dark web for 6 BTC or about $3,200 at that time.
According to USA Today, MySpace has since invalidated all passwords exposed in the breach and taken steps to improve its overall security.
8. Adobe - 2013 Data Breach Of 152M+ Users

In October 2013, Adobe announced that hackers had gained access to the personal information of more than 152 million users. The attack, which took place in September of that year, exposed usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.
Adobe has since taken steps to improve its security systems and has advised customers to change their passwords.
For more information on this breach, read BBC’s report here.
Lessons Learned From The Biggest Data And Security Breaches
After examining some of the biggest data breaches in recent history, it’s clear that there are a few key lessons to be learned.
Encrypting sensitive user data
One of the most important lessons is the importance of encrypting sensitive data. In several of the breaches mentioned above, hackers were able to access unencrypted passwords and security questions.
If this information had been encrypted, it would have been much more difficult for hackers to obtain.