In the last several weeks, more details of the infamous Sony Hack have filled the news pages – both on and offline – making it seem to be one of the worst corporate breaches ever to be seen. But while the Sony hack situation has certainly been a humiliating and invasive attack, bringing to light many sensitive details pertaining to Sony Pictures and its employees, it actually isn’t anywhere close to being the largest breach we’ve seen this year. In fact, on a list of largest hack/breaches of 2014, Sony ranks 33 out of 35 for greatest number of records breached. Check out the data below gathered by Silk.co.
Top 10 Data Breaches Of 2014: Which Company’s Had The Most Records Hacked?
#1 Ebay
In May, Ebay saw their database of email addresses and encrypted passwords for all 145 million eBay users compromised. This was the largest number of records breached in an online attack in 2014.
#2 J.P. Morgan Chase
J.P. Morgan Chase hack in August is the second largest breach of 2014 with 76 million personal customers records being compromised along with the records of 7 million small businesses. The J.P. Morgan hack was more concerning as it is a financial institution and financial information in its computer systems goes beyond customers’ credit card details, revealing more potentially sensitive data.
#3 Home Depot
While this hack resulted in 53 million customers’ information being stolen, thankfully it was only email addresses. However, the company was sure to warn customers against the peril of increased phishing emails.
#4 Community Health Systems
Hospital giant Community Health Systems suffered attack in August with nearly 4.5 million patients personal information being stolen by hackers. A sophisticated malware was used in this attack and was suspected to originate in China. Non-medical patient identification information like names and addresses was stolen in the attack, but no financial information.
#5 Michaels
This January hack came quick on the heels of the infamous Target attack of 2013. In the attack over 3 million customers information was breached with some 2.6 million credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates being revealed.
#6 Texas Health And Human Services
Occurring almost the same time as the Sony Hack, a breach that compromised some 2 million patients occurred at the Texas Health and Human Services department. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, "In August, after the transition to a new Medicaid vendor, the Texas commission filed a lawsuit against Xerox, alleging that the contractor had failed to turn over computer equipment, as well as paper records, containing Medicaid and health information for 2 million individuals, ‘putting the state out of compliance with federal regulations and at risk of massive federal fines,’” says a statement issued by Texas HHSC.
The Texas Health and Human Services department has notified individuals of the data breach communicating that their information may have been compromised. The information includes "Medicaid clients' names, birthdates, Medicaid numbers, and medical and billing records related to care provided through Medicaid, such as reports, diagnosis codes and photographs.
#7 Neiman Marcus
In January, retailer Neiman Marcus revealed that more than 1.1 million customers were affected in a hack of high-end retailer. Hackers had apparently breached its network in July 2013 in an operation that continued for three months undetected. The retailer was told on January 1 that it had been hacked. The company said debit and credit cards were compromised, but not PINs, since the company does not use pinpads in its stores.
#8 Goodwill Industries
In a breach involving malware on the non-profit’s systems from February to August 2014, an estimated 868,000 customer credit and debit cards were compromised. The vendor's computer network had been infected with malicious software that allowed criminals to access payment card data at several of the vendor's customers. Goodwill franchises in 19 states and the District of Columbia were affected, together totaling 330 stores.
#9 Oregon Employment Department
In October, hackers accessed confidential employment records for more than 850,000 people when they illegally entered the Oregon Employment Department's website for job seekers. The hacked information contained Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates and other information usually found on job applications.
#10 US Postal Service
In addition to the Oregon Employment department, The US Postal Service also saw employee records hacked as the confidential data on 800,000 USPS employees, including names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and pretty much anything else you’d put on a job application was compromised.
