The number of cybersecurity breaches in 2020 increased dramatically. Organizations, even government agencies, shifted to online operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
81 global companies from different countries reported cybersecurity breaches. This happened in the first half of the lockdown.
Until now, nearly 16 billion records are exposed this year. Moreover, 8.4 billion records of these happened in the first quarter of 2020 alone. This is a 273% increase compared to the first half of 2019.
Moreover, a security research agency published that 80% of breaches occurred at this time. This is because of stolen credentials or force attacks. Cybercriminals take advantage of the situation of the pandemic. They launch advanced cyberattacks in every industry.
Below are the top 4 cybersecurity breaches in 2020 so far.
Twitter Hack
One of the biggest online attacks in the history of the cyber world affected Twitter. Cybercriminals hacked the twitter accounts of high profile personalities from the United States. They include Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Joseph Biden Jr., Bill Gates, and many more.
Moreover, these hackers were able to reset 45 user accounts’ passwords out of their 130 targets.
Also, they offered $2000 for $1000 sent to an unknown Bitcoin address. Twitter reported that these attackers swindled $121,000 in Bitcoin.
Marriott Data Breach
Marriott revealed last March 2020 that a security breach harmed their data. This includes the data of their 5.2 million hotel guests who used their company’s loyalty app.
At that, these hackers acquired login information of two accounts of Marriot employees. Thus, they access customer information about the hotel’s loyalty scheme. Also, they used that information to draw off data. This happened one month before they discovered the security breach.
Zoom Video Conferencing
Many organizations and businesses adopted work from home policy. It happened since the start of the pandemic. With this, the Zoom video conferencing application became popular.
It is the most used application for virtual meetings. Also, it got popular among cybercriminals, too.
This application became at risk of different cybersecurity threats. Finally, it also became a cybersecurity breach victim.
Additionally, the news about 500,000 stolen passwords available for sale. These are in the dark web forums that alarmed the app’s users.
Victims’ meeting URLs were also available for sale. Some are even given away for free. These leaked accounts are properties of financial institutions, banks, universities, and various organizations.
Magellan Health
In April 2020, Magellan Health faced a ransomware attack and data breach. They confirmed that this cyberattack affected 365,000 patients.
Hackers installed malware to exploit the login information of the employees. Then, they pretended to be a client. Additionally, they sent out a phishing email before installing the ransomware attack.
Also, cyber thieves stole personal information, employee ID numbers, sensitive patient details. These details include W-2 information, social security numbers, and taxpayer ID numbers.
Conclusion
The first 6 months of 2020 was challenging for every organization’s cybersecurity. Although, we still have no idea what cybercriminals plan for the next six months.
We can protect our organizations by educating ourselves. While we are on the rise of cybersecurity threats and data breaches.
