The 21 scariest data breaches of 2018

Mark Zuckerberg

Data breaches in 2018 compromised the personal information of millions of people around the world.
Some of the biggest victims in 2018 include T-Mobile, Quora, Google, and Orbitz. Facebook dealt with a slew of major breaches and incidents that affected more than 100 million users of the popular social network.
Here are 21 of the biggest data breaches that companies faced this year.

It seems like every week, a new company has to notify its customers that their data may have been compromised, and personal information may have been affected.

Data breaches can happen for a variety of reasons. Some companies are hacked. Data can be mishandled or sold to third parties. Holes in a website's security system can leave information unprotected.

One of the latest victims was Marriott hotels, which recently revealed that hackers had accessed the information of an estimated 500 million customers.

Some of the biggest victims in 2018 include T-Mobile, Quora, Google, and Orbitz. Facebook dealt with a slew of major breaches and incidents that affected more than 100 million users of the popular social network.

Here are the biggest data breaches that were revealed this year, ranked by the number of users affected:

21. British Airways — 380,000

What was affected: Card payments

When it happened: August 21, 2018 — September 5, 2018

How it happened: A "criminal" hack affecting bookings made on the airline's website and app.

Source: Business Insider

20. Orbitz — 880,000

What was affected: Payment card information and personal data such as billing addresses, phone numbers, and emails.

When it happened: January 1, 2016 — December 22, 2017

How it happened: Hackers accessed travel bookings in the website's system.

Source: Reuters

19. SingHealth — 1.5 million

What was affected: Names and addresses in the Singapore government's health database, and some patients' history of dispensed medicines. Information on the prime minister of Singapore was specifically targeted.

When it happened: May 1, 2015 — July 4, 2018

How it happened: Hackers orchestrated a "deliberate, targeted, and well-planned" attack, according to a statement.

Source: BBC

See the rest of the story at Business Insider