For example, Facebook suffered a huge breach when a third party partner accidentally exposed more than 540 million user records on an improperly secured AWS server. They leave data exposed online, ready for exploitation. However, if these applications aren’t configured correctly. Unsecure cloud applications are often used by employees and contractors to store sensitive information.If it gets into the wrong hands, or is not secured correctly, this could lead to an exposure and hefty fine. However, if these are unauthorized, employees are effectively leaking data outside of the enterprise. Employees often use their own devices and third-party tools, like Slack and Dropbox, to get their jobs done. Using shadow IT solutions (cloud applications and devices that are not permitted by the enterprise) to store and share data.Loss of physical property that contains sensitive information, such as laptops, smartphones or data storage devices: In 2018, Heathrow Airport was fined £120,000 by the UK’s data protection body, after a USB stick containing private data was found by a member of the public.Below are some common causes, with real-life examples. What causes a data breach?īreaches can be accidental (data loss) or malicious (data theft). The exposed data can range from personally identifiable information (PII), to corporate secrets and intellectual property, all the way to matters of national security.ĭepending on the nature of the data involved, the organization that has been breached can face compliance violations, regulatory fines, and lawsuits from affected parties. It can also be called a data leak, or in typical corporate notices or apologies, an “unintended disclosure of information”. This is any instance where secure or sensitive information is exposed, whether intentionally or not. The Capital One incident is a prime example of a data breach. In the end, Capital One paid out $80 million in fines, as well as suffering further damage from a class-action lawsuit, remediation costs, negative media headlines and a sharp decline in trust from customers, investors and the public. Thanks to a misconfigured firewall, the hacker was able to penetrate Capital One’s database and compromise the personal data of about 100 million Americans, as well as 6 million Canadians.Īmong the sensitive information stolen was 140,000 Social Security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers, as well an undisclosed number of customer names, addresses, balances, and even credit scores.Īccording to the investigation, the breach occurred four months before, and was only discovered after the hacker boasted about her exploits on social networks like Meetup and Twitter. Within a few days, the FBI was able to trace the breach back to a malicious insider: a software engineer in Seattle, who worked for a Capital One partner. According to the tipster, some of the bank’s most sensitive data had been leaked on the web – and they were right. In July 2019, the security hotline for Capital One received an anonymous call.
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