Latest Data Breaches To Learn From

By Alisa Fetic

Cybersecurity attacks remain a top threat for businesses as more and more companies devise proactive measures to secure their data.

More than 4,000 publicly disclosed data breaches occurred in 2022, exposing over 22 billion records to bad actors. IBM reported that the average cost of data breaches increased from $4.24 million in 2021 to $4.35 million in 2022—representing a 2.6% increase.

While the financial loss resulting from data breaches is significantly high, the real impact on businesses runs much deeper; reputational damages, legal liabilities, and loss of customer trust.

Unfortunately, cybersecurity threats aren’t going away.

In fact, they get more sophisticated by the day. These threats affect businesses of all sizes—big and small, so it’s vital for organizations to take appropriate measures to thwart the attacks. This article discusses the most notable data breaches that occurred in December 2022.

1. Uber

Uber, the global mobility company, suffered a series of attacks in 2022.

In September, the company suffered a data breach from an alleged “teenager” threat actor. The hacker compromised the company’s ride-sharing system, gaining access to confidential user data. Uber reported that the attacker downloaded some internal slack messages and accessed data from an internal tool the company uses to manage invoices.

Its latest attack happened in December 2022.

On December 10^th, a new trove of Uber data was posted on BreachForums. The leaked data included personally identifiable information (PII) of 77,000 Uber employees, source code, and the company’s internal reports.

Uber announced on December 12^th that a hacker going by the name “UberLeaks” gained access to their employees’ data and was posting it on social forums. The company believes the attackers accessed its data in a recent breach on TeqTivity—a vendor Uber uses for tracking services.

3. Rackspace

On December 2^nd, Texas-based cloud computing giant Rackspace was hit by a ransomware attack, leaving thousands of customers worldwide without access to their data.

A few days later, the firm revealed that it was dealing with a security incident that forced it to shut down its Microsoft Exchange Server.

Shortly after, Rackspace confirmed that the incident was indeed a ransomware attack. The company also warned its customers not to hand over their sensitive information to anyone who may contact them requesting such information over email or phone.

Rackspace didn’t disclose which ransomware group was behind the attack and whether customer data was compromised. The company has received widespread criticism for concealing critical information about the incident. So far, at least two lawsuits have been filed against the company.

2. Last Pass

On December 22^nd, the beleaguered password manager giant Last Pass confirmed in a blog post that a hacker had infiltrated their system in an August data breach attempt.

Customers’ data may have been at risk of being exposed in a data breach that targeted a database of encrypted password vaults.

The hacker used data they stole in the August breach to compromise another employee and obtain credentials that allowed them access to the password database.

But just because the attacker gained access to the encrypted vaults doesn’t mean they accessed the passwords. While they have the vaults, it would still be difficult for them to access the passwords, though not impossible. It’s just the first step to cracking the passwords.

Wrapping Up

2022 has been a busy year for security professionals as data breaches have affected millions of users and cost companies billions in damages. As attackers advance their strategies, organizations should tighten their security policies to thwart cyberattacks and minimize damage.

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Dec 21, 2022

Latest Data Breach News Story

By Alisa Fetic The breach of Optus' customer database is the latest data breach story to rock the news. The data breach exposed the personal information of hundreds of thousands of customers, including their names, dates of birth, and phone numbers. As a result, Optus began notifying customers who may have been affected by the breach. On their website, they posted a statement stating that it is collaborating with the Australian Cyber Security Center to reduce any threats to customers. Optus also reported the "strange activities" to the Australian Federal Police, and an investigation was launched to determine who has been accessing the data and for what reason. The company assured its customers that it would provide updates as they become available. They also advised them not to use passports for online identification until the matter is resolved. Optus also notified its customers to be alert for any fraudulent activity they detected. Furthermore, they should secure their online accounts using two-factor authentication and unique, complicated passwords. But how could this data breach have been prevented? How Optus Could Prevent Data Security Breaches Redaction Redaction is a way to hide sensitive information from the public view. It is commonly used in the legal and financial industries to protect confidential information that criminals or competitors may use. Redaction is also used to release information about a client, such as names and addresses, to prevent cyber criminals from learning more about them. The process can be done manually by hand-writing over the original document or electronically by using computer software like Objective Redact or CaseGuard. More Ways Optus Could Prevent Data Security Breaches Install Firewall Software A firewall protects from hackers by blocking unauthorized attempts to access or modify network data or control systems. It also prevents intruders from using your computer as an entry point into the network or accessing sensitive files on it. There are two types of firewall software: hardware-based and software-based. Hardware-based firewalls include routers and switches that protect the entire network by restricting all traffic passing through it. Software-based firewalls run on a single computer and can be set up at home or in business premises to separate work and private networks. Encrypt All Customer Data Encryption is a process that transforms plain text into cipher text. This transformation prevents someone from viewing or accessing your data without the proper key needed to decrypt it. In this way, if a hacker were to break into your system and steal passwords, they would not be able to access any other information in the system because all their passwords would be encrypted with that one key. Encrypting client information helps prevent hackers from gaining access to them while being transmitted between servers and users in a network. Limit Employee Access to Crucial Company Data To do this, businesses can implement policies limiting how much access each employee has to critical company data. These policies may include: A password policy : Allowing employees to log in with a password rather than using their name and social security number (or other personally identifiable information) as their username will help ensure that no unauthorized person can access your system. Wrap-Up On Optus's Data Breach Data breaches can have a devastating effect on affected companies, not to mention their customers. In reality, they are one of the biggest threats to the corporate world, yet many companies lack a sufficient defense against them. All it takes is one mistake to let a hacker in, and they can wreak havoc on your data. Companies should take caution by using measures like redaction to ensure their client's data is safe.

Nov 15, 2022