The Biggest Computer Hack Attacks of the Last 5 Years

Criminals and state-sponsored hackers attack networks around the world every minute of every day. Most of the time those attacks are thwarted by the networks’ cyberdefenses. But when attacks succeed, they usually do so in a big way.

With increasing regularity, it seems, attackers hit the jackpot and gain access to information on millions of individuals, including passwords, email addresses, and credit card numbers. Odds are high that at least some of your personal information is in the hands of these thieves.

These are some of the biggest computer hacks of the past five years.

1. Adobe (October 2013)

Number of people affected: 150 million

Information stolen: Email addresses and passwords for 150 million users, according to security vendor Sophos, as well as credit card data for 2.9 million users.

A data dump discovered on the AnonNews website contained the usernames and passwords of some 150 million Adobe customers. (Sophos)

How it happened: Hackers gained access to Adobe’s networks, though exactly how they did it has yet to be publicly revealed. In addition to stealing user information, attackers also downloaded the source code for a handful of Adobe programs, which essentially forms the foundation of the software.

Aftermath: Adobe offered free credit monitoring to individuals who had their credit card information stolen. Others were told to reset their passwords for Adobe products. Password management vendor LastPass set up a site where you can check to see if your email address was one of those stolen; you can find it here.

2. eBay (May 2014)

Number of people affected: 145 million

Information stolen: Customers’ usernames, encrypted passwords, email addresses, and other personal data. No payment information was taken.

Photo: eBay

How it happened: Attackers used compromised employee login information to get into the company’s network.

Aftermath: EBay issued a statement asking all of its users to change their passwords “out of an abundance of caution.” The company said it would also work to improve security.

3. Target (January 2014)

Number of people affected: 110 million

Information stolen: 40 million credit and debit card numbers, as well as 70 million consumer email addresses.