17 Biggest Breaches of the 21st Century

Ruheni Mathenge  - Streaming Expert
Last updated: October 25, 2023
Read time: 13 minutes
Share

Here's a quick look at the biggest data breaches affecting millions of users globally. Also learn how to prevent such severe security breaches.

THE TAKEAWAYS

Whether it’s about the tech giants like Yahoo and Adobe, social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, or the famous Marriott International, all the prominent names of the corporate world have suffered data breaches at least once since they went digital. Some of them have even suffered devastating breaches affecting millions of customers. The extent of these security breaches shows how organizations from every sector inevitably need to focus on strengthening their cybersecurity.

With the advancements in technology, data breaches have become a common occurrence. For example, data breaches grew from a mere 600 in 2010 to over 1800 in 2021 in the United States only. Likewise, the annual security breaches have also grown exponentially in the rest of the world.

Data breaches have a devastating impact on the victims, be they individuals, organizations, or governments. Essentially, they could lead to severe financial losses, legal consequences, reputational damage, privacy loss, or even a threat to national security. 

This article provides a detailed discussion of the biggest breaches worldwide, how they happen, types of data breaches, data breach targets, damages, and much more.

Quick list of the biggest data breaches since 2000

  1. Yahoo: Breach happened in 2013-2014 affecting 3 billion user accounts, but remained undetected over the following three years.
  2. Aadhaar: Hackers managed accessing sensitive details of over 1.2 billion registered Indians and selling it on WhatsApp groups.
  3. LinkedIn: The professional networking service exposed the data of around 700 million users to criminal hackers.
  4. Sina Weibo: The Chinese social media giant exposed personal information of 538 million users to the hackers who exploited the platform’s API.