The Worst Hacks of 2018 by Casey Chin.
After years of targeted hacks, epic heists, and run of the mill data breaches you might think that institutions would be getting wise to the importance of strong cybersecurity. But it seems 2018 was not the year. Here’s WIRED’s look back at the biggest breaches, data exposures, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored campaigns, and general hacks of the year. Stay safe in 2019.
Worst or Best hack depends on your point of view. I have no principled reason to disagree with Wire’s choices but note with more than a little disappointment, the lack of government breaches in 2018.
Yes, the Atlanta ransomware incident is listed but ransomware is hardly a step towards government transparency is it?
Perhaps that’s it. When I think of government breaches I think of widespread dissemination of information a government would prefer to keep secret. Taking it and hiding again, supply the name of your favorite drip, drip, drip journalism project, doesn’t strike me as transparency.
Granting that Wikileaks demonstrated that nonsensical information can keep the media in a frenzy by the drip, drip, drip release of emails in a presidential campaign. I suppose I am confessing that I prefer transparency over media frenzies or media outlets using hacked information for their own financial benefit.
Will 2019 be another desert of major government document/data breaches? You have 363 days to influence next year’s best/worst data hack report.