Is 2015 the Year of the Hack?

This year has been far from quiet when it comes to hacking incidents and data breaches, and the hackers are getting more and more creative about who they’re targeting and how. We explored some of the most significant stories so far in 2015.

Anthem
We talked earlier this year about the Anthem hack, the second largest health insurer in America, and how it may be the largest healthcare data breach in history. The hackers stole social security numbers and other personal information of nearly 80 million Anthem customers.

Office of Personnel Management
The next big attack affected the Office of Personnel Management in April. It is estimated that personal information was stolen from 18 million current, former, and prospective federal employees…and the number is expected to grow!

UCLA Health
In May, we learned that a suspected 2014 hack on the UCLA hospital system was confirmed. In this attack, hackers accessed a network that contains personal information for nearly 4.5 million people, including their names, address, date of birth, social security numbers, medical record numbers, Medicare or health plan ID numbers, and some medical information.

Online Photo Websites
At the advice of a third party vendor that manages and hosts photo service websites, retailers including CVS, Costco, and Walmart have temporarily taken their online printing stores offline due to a potential compromise of customer credit card data.

Ashley Madison
Ashley Madison, a website that helps married people cheat, was hacked by a group called “The Impact Team.” These hackers plan to share all of the data gained on the 37 million members including photos and certain information that might prove to have implications far beyond traditional identity theft.

Chrysler
In an effort to proactively identify a security weakness, hackers in St. Louis demonstrated their ability to remotely control and even “kill” a Jeep Cherokee on a highway. In response to the demonstration, Chrysler has quietly released a patch to repair the weakness in the onboard entertainment system.

Where do the vulnerabilities lie within your security processes and plans? Contact us to discuss or check out a few of our offerings including Relentless Security and Disaster Recovery plans.