8 Massive Hack Attacks Aimed at Financial Data

Raphael’s advice: “Use different passwords and different challenge questions with different institutions. Most institutions also include challenge questions as part of the login process. The variation will help limit your vulnerability if one of your institutions is successfully hacked.”

3)  2006: Heartland Payment Systems & Others

The CardSystems hack might have been the biggest of its time, but it paled in comparison to the information stolen from about 130 million credit and debit cards by the so-called TJX Hacker.

The hacker was identified as Alberto Gonzalez, a Miami man who was 28 when he was indicted in 2009. Gonzalez and his accomplices stole information from Heartland, TJX Office Systems, 7-Eleven and other businesses. He received 20 years in prison. Despite expressing remorse when he was convicted, he later sought to withdraw his guilty plea claiming that in his role as Secret Service informant the government had directed him to commit the crimes.

4)  2011: Sony PlayStation

Playing videogames at home might seem a fun, and safe, way to pass some time. Seventy million PlayStation owners found out it wasn’t quite as safe as they thought when hackers breached the system and stole personal data, including credit-card data. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sony discovered that 25 million customers who had played games at Sony Online Entertainment also had their information stolen. Police in Spain arrested three suspects in the case in September 2011.

Raphael’s advice: “Choose strong passwords, such as those with 120+ bit strength, when setting up online account access. These tend to be passwords with 20 characters or more, using upper and lower case letters, numerals and special characters. Avoid using birthdays, family names, or other information easily associated with you. One trick is to think of an easy to remember sentence and then use the first letters of each word, with a few numerals and special characters thrown in.”

5)  2011: Hong Kong Stock Market

As if investors don’t have enough to worry about, hackers forced the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to suspend trading in seven companies when they hacked the news section of the exchange’s website, which publishes corporate filings. The companies included HSBC, Cathay Pacific Airways and the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, which runs the bourse. Each had just released price-sensitive information earlier in the day. No arrests have been reported.

6)  2011: Nasdaq

Trading might not have been halted, but news that hackers had been finding their way through various parts of the Nasdaq’s computer system was unsettling, to say the least. The Wall Street Journal reported that breaches had occurred repeatedly over a year’s time, although the Nasdaq’s trading platform was unscathed. At first, the exchange said the hackers were apparently just looking around. Then it said malware had been planted in one area that was probably intended to infect visitor’s computers. Later reports that the attack was more wide-ranging led the federal National Security Agency to open an investigation. No results have been reported.

7)  2012: Bank of America, PNC, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank

Over several days in September, a massive (the largest ever according to CNN.com) denial of service attack made online banking virtually impossible for customers of five financial large institutions. The attacks, which don’t involve hacking into secure areas of computer systems, resulted in embarrassment for the banks and inconvenience for customers.

Raphael’s advice: “If a financial institution has been hacked, the institution will likely recommend steps its clients can take to protect themselves. These steps could include changing user names, passwords, and challenge questions–even closing and reopening accounts. If a client has used the same user name, passwords and challenge questions with other institutions, he or she should consider changing them, too. The clients could further protect themselves by more frequently running credit reports, placing a fraud alert on their credit record, closely monitoring fund transfers and account balances, and engaging an identity theft prevention/restoration service, such as ID Resolution LLC.”

8)  2012: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup

It’s probably not a huge surprise that foreign governments that want to inflict damage on the U.S. might attack federal websites and those of major companies. That’s apparently what happened in October when it was reported that the three big banks had been hacked by Iran, or by hackers working on behalf of the country. Iran denied the allegations and there is no word if any damage was caused or secrets stolen.

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