It may sound nonsensical at first that companies hire hackers on their own initiative to search for security vulnerabilities in their networks. But if you look at how many companies have already fallen victim to cybercrime, it makes perfect sense.
In this article, we look at the biggest cyber attacks of recent years and why so many companies still hire hackers.
Companies are a Favourite Target for Hackers
Cyber attacks on companies are becoming increasingly common these days. It’s easy to explain why this is the case. Much more data is usually stored in company networks than in private networks. And as data theft and identity theft are particularly popular at the moment, attacks on companies are simply more lucrative. The larger the company, the better it is for the criminals who have gained access.
The Biggest Hacker Attacks of Recent Years
Data Theft at Yahoo
In 2013, the Yahoo platform fell victim to a hack in which the attackers gained access to almost one billion customer accounts. This gave them access to names, telephone numbers, email addresses, passwords and more.
DDoS Attacks on Dyn
In 2016, the DNS provider Dyn was paralysed by DDoS attacks. The hackers used a botnet consisting of a large number of unsecured IoT devices. Three Dyn data centres were also shut down: Twitter, Amazon and GitHub. Some major websites, such as the New York Times, were also unavailable for several hours.
Credit Card Fraud at Heartland Payment Systems
When it comes to credit card fraud, the attack on Heartland Payment Systems from 2008 to the present day is considered the biggest hack. The American company is the world’s largest provider of electronic payment transactions. Around 130,000,000 credit card details were stolen as a result of the cyber attack. The company suffered a loss of over 110 million dollars.
Cyber Attack on Sony Playstation Network
A hacker attack in April 2011 caused many Playstation owners to have their systems shut down for almost four weeks. However, the attack on the Playstation Network not only led to an outage, but also to the personal data of around 77 million subscribers being stolen.
Theft of Ebay Customer Data
Ebay has also been the victim of a hacker attack. In 2014, attackers gained access to the databases and managed to access more than 145 million customer data. It is still unknown who the attackers were.
Why Companies Should Hire Hackers
The list of attacks on companies goes on and on. And they are also the reason why companies hire hackers. There are not only criminal hackers (so-called black-hat hackers), but also white-hat hackers or ‘ethical hackers’. The latter are committed to making company networks more secure and it is precisely these hackers that many companies employ.
Just like black hat hackers, white hat hackers look for weak points in a company’s security system and try to penetrate it. They use the same methods as criminals. The difference is that ‘ethical hackers’ do not want to cause any damage. Instead, they draw companies’ attention to security gaps and the damage they could cause.
Companies that employ white-hat hackers do so in order to prevent black-hat hackers from gaining access to the computer system. There are now various services where you can hire professional hackers.
Hacker Wanted – Why IT Forensics is Important
To protect yourself from hacker attacks or if you have already been hacked, you should look for an IT forensic expert or hacker. If the
Hackers and How They Can Help in 2024
The protection of sensitive and highly personal data is no longer an issue that only affects large companies or even global corporations. Have you ever
Ransomware Spreads Fear and Terror
In May 2019, the US city of Baltimore in Maryland suffered a ransomware attack on the city administration’s servers. The type of ransomware used there