Worst Data Breaches in 2023

Data breaches have increased significantly in recent years with the growing reliance on digital technology, the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals, inadequate cybersecurity measures, human error, and the expanding volume of data being stored and transmitted online. Also, the proliferation of interconnected devices and the increasing value of personal and financial data on the black market have contributed to the rise in data breaches.

What is a data breach?

A data breach is an incident where unauthorized individuals or hackers gain access to or acquire sensitive or confidential information without proper authorization. It can include personal information, such as names, addresses, social security numbers, financial data, and other types of sensitive data. Data breaches can occur through various means, such as hacking, malware attacks, insider threats, social engineering, or other forms of unauthorized data access or theft.??

Data Breaches in 2023

1.MailChimp: MailChimp is an email marketing platform. On January 11, MailChimp announced they had faced a breach due to a social engineering attack. The unauthorized actor or hackers accessed data from 133 MailChimp users' accounts through this attack. Hackers used the exposed data to target phishing scams or deliver unwanted advertisements to account holders.

2. T-Mobile: T-Mobile, U.S. based wireless carrier, announced a data breach on January 19, 2023. The actual incident occurred in November 2022, but T-Mobile discovered the breach on January 5, 2023. According to reports, the data breach led to the loss of sensitive and personal information, like names, dates of birth, social security numbers, emails, and billing address information of over 37 million customers and potential customers of T-Mobile. This is not the first time T-Mobile suffered a data breach; they also faced many data breaches in previous years.

3. PeopleConnect: PeopleConnect is a technology company that provides online directories and background check services. On January 19, 2023, PeopleConnect revealed that it suffered a data breach, exposing millions of people's personal information. Hackers leaked the company's 2019 backup database, which contained the names, emails, phone numbers, and hashed passwords of 20.2 million customers.

4. Weee!: Weee! is a leading online grocery delivery service specializing in Asian and Hispanic foods. On February 1, 2023, Weee! announced that they suffered a data breach that exposed the personal data of over 1.1 million customers. Breached information includes customer’s full names, email addresses, contact numbers, device types, order information, and other data.

5. Activision: Activision is one of the world's largest video game publishers. The Call of Duty creators Activision announced a data breach on February 19, 2023. Although the data breach occurred in early December 2022, the company has recently revealed this to the public. According to reports, a hacker obtained unauthorized access to the company's systems by tricking an employee through an SMS phishing attempt and was responsible for the breach. The breach reportedly stole sensitive and product-related employee information from the website, including hashed passwords, login information, email addresses, work locations, and salary.

6. ChatGPT: ChatGPT has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its advanced natural language processing and AI capabilities. On March 20, OpenAI's ChatGPT announced that it suffered its first major personal data breach. Due to a bug in ChatGPT's open-source library, the chatbot exposed 1.2% of ChatGPT Plus user’s payment-related and other personal information. The US-based Generative AI solutions business pulled ChatGPT offline on March 20 due to the compromise, making the service unavailable to thousands of users worldwide.

7. AT&T: AT&T is an American multinational telecommunications company based in the United States. In March 2023, the company disclosed that it suffered a data breach. Over 9 million of their clients were informed that their data, including first names, wireless account numbers, email addresses, and wireless contact numbers, had been compromised due to an attack on a third-party vendor. Still, sensitive or financial information was not exposed in the attack.