Page 90 - Cyber Warnings August 2017

3. Three – As a major network operator with over 9 million active users, Three has a huge
responsibility on its shoulders. The company was involved in a huge database upgrade
that would allow employees and users to operate the network more easily and have
better overall experience using this operator. What happened was that an employee ID
was used to hack the upgrade database while it was still transferring. The resulting hack
took information from over 200,000 active users’ right under Three’s security system.

4. Homeland Security – Hacker threats that focus on government agencies and official
employee records are nothing new. One example of it going too far is the hack that
happened in FBI’s own backyard, resulting in a loss of over 20,000 employee records.
These files are still in the hacker’s hands, who threaten to release them to the public.
Such an act would be considered an act of terrorism, putting many lives in danger, all
because of conventional IT security systems.

5. Wonga – As a loan company, Wonga has fallen victim to a cyber security attack that
resulted in a loss of over 200,000 bank account numbers and information. Such an
attack can have devastating consequences on the clients, resulting in a loss of very
relevant income source for many families. Wonga’s own statement focuses on a swift
resolution of this hack and a promise of keeping the data safe in the future.

6. Yahoo – No one is safe from cyber attacks, no matter how good you think your security
systems are. One such example is Yahoo, which suffered a massive database breach in
2013, right before being bought by Verizon. The resulting hack impacted as many as 1,

90 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – August 2017 Edition
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