Data Security: Your Information, Their Loot

By Evan Applegate

RSA
The security division of data storage firm EMC was hit by a hack that compromised their popular SecurID cryptographic keys, forcing them to offer replacements to their clients. The stolen information was later used in an attack on defense giant Lockheed Martin.
Texas Comptroller
A server mistakenly left open to the public contained the Social Security numbers of 3.5 million teachers and other state employees.
No hacking necessary to access this server. The FBI started a criminal investigation.
Sony
The conglomerate lost names, addresses, and credit card and bank account numbers as hackers pillaged its online game, music, and movie divisions. Hackers made off with 77 million names, e-mail addresses and passwords after breaching Sony’s PlayStation network.
SK Communications
A complex attack on the Internet company netted the personal information of 35 million South Korean users. That’s in a country of 50 million people.
SAIC
A few of the defense contractor’s backup tapes were stolen out of an employee’s car. The tapes contained the medical records of more than 5 million military patients.
Sutter Medical Foundation
A stolen laptop from the health-care provider contained 3.3 million names and other identifying information, along with 943,000 patient diagnoses. This incident brought on a class action suit, alleging negligence in securing data.
Nexon
A hacker acquired the names, user names, and passwords of 13.2 million players of the popular online game MapleStory.
262,812,546: Confirmed number of records exposed or stolen in 2011, from more than 800 separate incidents.
37.4%: Rise in the number of reported hacking incidents over last year.
Hacking—deliberately breaking into computers—became the most common breach last year:
Hacking 81.0%
Unknown/Other 9.8%
Stolen hardware 4.4%
Virus/phishing 2.7%
Lost hardware 2.1%

Applegate is a visualization designer for Bloomberg Businessweek.

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