The Scariest Hacks in History

Spooky season is upon us and as the lights dim and those horror films roll out, you might find yourself thankful you’re not living through one yourself.?

You’re not being chased by a masked villain, or haunted by a disembodied ghost. But instead, you’re able to shout at the TV…

Don’t go in there.?

Turnaround!

Why are you running UP the stairs??

These are the questions on many lips, as we witness those old horror tropes play out every October.?

But October isn’t just a time to indulge in fictional fear. It is also an opportunity to educate yourself on the dangers we face in reality. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so I thought it would be fitting to share some of the scariest cyber incidents in history.?

So turn down the lights, gather close, and try not to scream.?

No one is safe - MafiaBoy DDoS Attacks

In 2000, Michael Calce under the name MafiaBoy caused almost ï¿¡1 billion worth of damages by unleashing a DDoS attack on a number of high-profile commercial websites.?

These included many household names Amazon, CNN, eBay and Yahoo!?

Mafiaboy’s Rivolta managed to shut down Yahoo! for almost an hour. Today, Calce is a white hat hacker. Companies hire him to help identify security flaws in their systems and design better security features.?

He says the internet is a far scarier place today than it was back in 2000. For one, there is more and more at stake as we rely more heavily on online systems for our daily lives.

A Frightening Affair - Ashley Madison Hit by The Impact Team

In 2015, ‘The Impact Team’ stole user data of Ashley Madison, a commercial website billed as enabling extramarital affairs. The group leaked more than 25 gigabytes of company data, including user details. The site’s policy of not deleting users’ personal information caused distress to many users as they feared being publicly shamed.?

At the time, this was the largest security breach of Consumer information in history. ‘Impact Team’ wanted the owners of Ashley Madison to remove the site due to the site's controversial nature.

The Worm of Doom

As creepy as they sound, worms can be hugely destructive, penetrating vulnerable computers, before replicating and spreading rapidly within a network.?

One of the scariest worms ever surfaced in 2004, with the very appropriate name Mydoom. It would appear as an innocent email error which, once executed, would send itself to your entire address book and spread through your network. Its effects were catastrophic, causing an estimated ï¿¡35 billion in damages.?

Legend says it’s still active in some form today. Stay safe out there.?

An Explosive Attack

We tend to think of cyber-attacks as causing system downtime, the loss of customer details or the release of sensitive information, but they can have real physical implications too.

An attack on a Turkish oil pipeline in 2008 caused an actual explosion! The hackers were able to shut down alarms, cut off communications and then super-pressurise the crude oil in the line, leading to the explosion. The business impact was said to be in the billions of dollars, whilst also showing the world the extent of the mayhem cyber attacks can cause.

Hacking for UFO Evidence

UFO enthusiast turned military hacker? Seems like the plot to an upcoming horror-comedy, but this hack was far from fictional.?

In 2002, one Hacker gained access to 97 different U.S. military systems at the Pentagon and NASA. His quest? To find evidence to prove the existence of UFOs. Did he find it? The jury is still out on that one. But what was most scary was how easily he was able to have access to confidential military information and leave his own taunting crop circles.?

One message he left read: “Your security system is [??]. I am a Solo. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.”

Authorities claim they spent well over $800,000 recovering from the damage.

Is your Heart Racing yet?

These incidents are just a handful of horrific cyberattacks that have wreaked havoc over the decades. And although they are in the past, they can teach us a lot about the importance of tight-knit security systems and optimal security hygiene.?

So as we pedal through Cyber Awareness Month think about these hacks and how your organisation can learn from them.

Let them be the scary stories that leave us living our lives, and running our businesses that little more cautiously.