The most famous data leaks in history - a list of wonders!

Many believe that hacking operations are more frequent for individuals and small and medium entities, where the means of prevention and leakage are limited. This is not the case, but there is a particular appeal among large entities – especially global ones – that calls for the attention and challenge of hackers.

Money alone is not a motive, but you may be surprised by the often harmful nature of these hackers, and the different perception of the big entities that justify hacking and stealing. It is also the feeling of euphoria when contributing to an event that has a global impact in one form or another.

Through the following lines, we will review together incidents of data breaches that contributed to a great stir, some of which prompted major entities - you will not believe that they could be hacked - to take unusual measures, for example, pushing their users to change passwords at once!

Such breaches have contributed to the emergence of security measures more widely in the world at large.

1- Yahoo Corporation - Data of more than 3 billion accounts

These incidents were a major reason for the landing of one of the world's first internet giants. Yahoo Company was also so until the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century

Between 2013 and 2016, Yahoo was subjected to a series of cyber breaches, resulting in the theft of the data of 3 billion user accounts. The stolen data included names, email addresses, encrypted passwords, phone numbers, dates of birth, and other sensitive data. A 2013 hack was only revealed in 2016, while a 2014 breach was revealed in 2017.

● The Yahoo hack is one of the largest data breaches in history.

● The stolen data was used in identity theft, financial fraud and phishing attacks.

Yahoo has paid hefty fines to settle hack-related lawsuits, amounting to more than $100 million.

● The incident significantly damaged Yahoo's reputation and contributed to the depreciation of its shares. Baltha in the process of selling to Verizon.

●After detecting the breaches, Yahoo made significant changes to its security practices.

● The incident encouraged users to use strong and unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication.

● The incident also led to increased scrutiny of the practices of big tech companies to protect user data.

2- LinkedIn - Data of more than 700 million accounts

In light of the repercussions of the Corona pandemic in the world, in April 2021, a huge data leak was reported to more than 700 million LinkedIn users on the hacker forum. The stolen data included personal information such as email addresses, business information, phone numbers, full names, account IDs, social media account links, gender details, and other information. The stolen data is believed to have been collected through the illegally exploited LinkedIn API.

● The 2021 LinkedIn leak is one of the largest website data leaks in history, which includes employee and worker data in various markets and industries.

● The stolen data was used for identity theft and financial fraud.

● This incident affected LinkedIn's long-term reputation as well as users' trust.

●After the leak was revealed, LinkedIn advised users to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication (an additional support method for securing accounts).

●Security experts have warned that stolen data could be used for years to come in targeted scams.

● LinkedIn has not publicly admitted responsibility for the leak, but has confirmed that it has updated its security systems.

● LinkedIn users are advised to be very cautious about any suspicious emails, text messages, or phone calls you may receive, especially those requesting personal or financial information.

●Users can also check the history of data breaches on the Have I Been Pwned website to check if their information has been leaked.

3- Facebook - Data of more than 500 million accounts

A vulnerability has been uncovered in Facebook that allowed attackers to access the personal information of 500 million users. In 2019, the stolen data included phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, geographic locations, and other information. The vulnerability is believed to have resulted from the use of a feature called "People Search" that allowed users to search for other people using their phone numbers.

● The 2019 Facebook data leak is one of the largest data leaks in history, for online social networks.

● This incident significantly damaged Facebook's reputation and led to heavy fines imposed on it by regulators.

●After the leak was revealed, Facebook notified affected users and fixed the vulnerability.

●Facebook has faced class action lawsuits and hefty fines by regulators around the world for its negligence in protecting user data.

● The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has fined Facebook $5 billion for data privacy violations. The Irish Data Protection Commission also fined Facebook €50 million for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

● The 2019 data leak incident led to calls for broader regulatory reforms to protect users' online data.

4- Canva - data of more than 130 million accounts

A massive data leak was revealed to Canva, the graphics design platform, in 2019, affecting more than 130 million users. The stolen data included email addresses, hashed passwords, usernames, dates of birth, and other information. The leak is believed to have resulted from a breach of Canva's servers.

● It was possible to use stolen passwords, even if they were encrypted, with the use of advanced technologies. This incident greatly damaged the reputation of one of the largest graphic design sites, prompting it to take precautionary and security measures extensively.

●After the leak was revealed, Canva notified the affected users and reset their passwords.

●The company even advised users to change their passwords in all their other accounts and use two-factor authentication (an additional support method to secure accounts).

● The company has faced class-action lawsuits for negligence in protecting users' data.

● Canva has not announced the source of the breach or whether any other data has been stolen.