Weekly Recap August 19 2022
Table of Contents
- By Steven
- Published: Aug 19, 2022
- Last Updated: Sep 23, 2022
If cybersecurity industry experts' predictions prove true, there will be nearly 15 million DDoS attacks in 2022 alone. Cloudflare reports it blocked an average of nearly 58 million online attacks each day from the summer of 2021 to the spring of 2022. All in all, the number of online attacks is up nearly 10% yearly. Let's shift the focus to some of the more notable hacks that have gone down in the past year.
Liquid Loses $100 Million
Liquid, a cryptocurrency exchange, lost more than $95 million of digital currency. The crypto theft is one of many in a seemingly never-ending onslaught of online attacks targeting cryptocurrency platforms. The hackers covertly accessed the crypto platform's digital wallets to pull off the heists.
In total, hackers stole about 70 different types of cryptocurrency in the attack. It is worth noting the hackers did not access some of the platform's cryptocurrency in the attack. The spike in web-based offensives against crypto platforms and businesses of other varieties is an important reminder of why every business and computer owner should regularly update their digital defenses.
Argentina Federal Government Hack
Though the United States mainstream media largely ignored the recent hack of Argentina's government ID database, we took note of it. A hacker weaseled his or her way into the Argentinian government's database to steal highly sensitive information about the taxpaying residents of the nation. Hackers accessed Argentinian residents' identity cards issued by the federal government in the attack.
The hack also extends to information about residents' addresses, dates of birth, government-issued identification numbers, occupations, etc. It appears as though the hacker manipulated a VPN to obtain access to sensitive information. However, there is also the potential that an insider within the governmental agency provided a third party with access to the database.
Whole Foods Breach
More than 80 million records were exposed in a recent Whole Foods hack. The Amazon subsidiary mistakenly left a massive database open for public access. Though it might be hard to believe, the truth is that a Whole Foods IT employee failed to attach a password to the database, ultimately providing digital miscreants with easy access to valuable information. The hackers accessed logging information ranging from Whole Foods' customer names to credit card numbers used for orders, order details, snail mail addresses, email addresses, as well as other information that is likely to be sold on the black market for eventual identity theft.
T-Mobile Breach
T-Mobile suffered a disruptive hack. The breach is one of many endured in recent years by the telecommunications giant. The breach affected T-Mobile customer accounts, potentially setting the stage for identity theft. T-Mobile's investigation into the hack revealed the points of entry and exit hackers used to obtain access to customer information. Hackers accessed customer names, phone numbers, driver's licenses, dates of birth, and even Social Security numbers in the attack.
OneMoreLead Data Breach
OneMoreLead, a marketing specialist, suffered a significant data breach in which hackers accessed over 60 million records. The breach resulted from a database that was not properly configured. An employee from OneMoreLead left the database in question open for access, providing hackers with a golden opportunity to access, steal, and likely sell sensitive information on the dark web.