The biggest data leaks: Causes, consequences, and How to Protect yourself
- February 24, 2025, 01:52:04
In today's digital world, data leaks are becoming one of the most serious threats to businesses and private users. Each leak can lead to loss of finances, reputation, and even lawsuits. Why is this happening? What are the biggest data breaches that have already rocked the world? And most importantly, how to protect your data and prevent such incidents? In this article, we will examine these issues in detail.
The biggest data leaks in history
1. Yahoo (2013-2014)
As a result of the largest data breach, more than 3 billion Yahoo accounts were affected. The attackers gained access to usernames, passwords, phone numbers and dates of birth. This is a very big problem, as fraudsters will be able to call users and deceive them. The company recognized the problem only in 2016, which significantly undermined the trust of users.
2. Facebook (2019)
The information of 530 million users, including phone numbers, email addresses and other personal data, has been made publicly available. The reason was a security vulnerability that allowed hackers to extract data through automated scripts.
3. Equifax (2017)
A credit rating company has leaked the personal data of 147 million people, including social security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses. Thus, many users were attacked by scammers and unscrupulous people. The reason was not updated server software containing a critical vulnerability.
4. LinkedIn (2021)
Hackers were able to extract and publish the data of 700 million users, including contact information, professional information and other personal information. Although passwords have not been stolen, such a leak still carries huge risks for users.
The main causes of data leaks
Human factor — employee errors, weak passwords and phishing attacks, a person is exposed to believing letters from reputable companies and opening them even at the workplace, and this in turn carries great danger.
Broken security systems — the use of outdated technologies and the lack of updates leads to an increased chance of hacking your system.
Malware — viruses and Trojans introduced by intruders, these can be files downloaded from the Internet or specially uploaded files by your employees.
Insufficient encryption level — the lack of data protection on the servers will result in their loss.
Cloud Storage attacks — attackers often attack centralized services where large amounts of data are stored.
How to protect yourself and your business?
To avoid getting your data into the hands of hackers, you need to take serious cybersecurity measures:
- Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication, besides encrypting passwords would be a great idea.
- Update the software regularly, especially server and cloud solutions.
- Store data in secure data centers with a high level of security.
- Use DDoS protection to prevent attacks on your server.
- Check services for leaks using special tools.
MivoCloud is your reliable data protection partner
MivoCloud offers a full range of solutions for secure data storage:
Dedicated servers with high protection against attacks.
Cloud services with advanced data encryption.
DDoS protection to ensure uninterrupted operation.
24/7 technical support, ready to help in any situation.
Locations in the USA, Romania, Moldova and Russia, which allows you to choose the most secure infrastructure.
Conclusion
Major data breaches show how important cybersecurity is in today's world. Without an adequate level of protection, companies and users can become victims of hackers, lose confidential data and incur serious losses. Therefore, it is worth taking care of a reliable server solution in advance. By choosing MivoCloud, you get maximum protection and guarantees for the security of your data.
