No business is too small or too big to be susceptible to hacking, phishing, cryptolocker. Learn from the mistakes of these companies and get expert tips you can use. Visit throttlenet.com

1. THE BIGGEST
DATA BREACHES
OF 2016
AND HOW WE CAN AVOID THEM IN 2017

2. YAHOO!
IN SEPTEMBER 2016, YAHOO ANNOUNCED THE NAMES, EMAIL
ADDRESSES, PHONE NUMBERS, BIRTHDAYS, HASHED
PASSWORDS AND IN SOME CASES, SECURITY QUESTION
ANSWERS OF USERS WERE HACKED. THANKFULLY, NO
PAYMENT INFORMATION WAS COMPROMISED. IT WAS
ASSUMED YAHOO KNEW ABOUT THE ATTACK AS EARLY AS
AUGUST, CALLING FOR TOUGHER LEGISLATION REGARDING
DISCLOSURE OF KNOWN BREACHES.
500MILLION ACCOUNTS
COMPROMISED

3. LINKEDIN
IT WAS BELIEVED IN 2012 THAT RUSSIAN HACKERS STOLE 6.5
MILLION ENCRYPTED PASSWORDS FROM USERS OF THE
PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING SITE. FLASH FORWARD TO
2016 AND THAT NUMBER INCREASED TO 167 MILLION. AFTER
DOING SO IN 2012, LINKEDIN ONCE AGAIN URGED ALL IT'S
MEMBERS TO CHANGE THEIR PASSWORDS IN 2016.
167MILLION ACCOUNTS
COMPROMISED

4. TRUMP HOTELS
PRIOR TO BECOMING THE 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, DONALD TRUMP'S HOTEL CHAIN AGREED TO A
$50,000 SETTLEMENT AND A MASSIVE REVAMP OF IT'S DATA
SECURITY POLICIES AFTER 70,000 CREDIT CARD NUMBERS OF
GUESTS WERE COMPROMISED. THE BREACH ACTUALLY TOOK
PLACE IN 2014, BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL 2016 WHEN HUNDREDS
OF FRAUDULENT CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS WERE
UNCOVERED. THE ONE SIMILARITY BETWEEN ALL VICTIMS?
THEY STAYED AT A TRUMP HOTEL.
70,000
CREDIT CARDS
COMPROMISED

5. WENDY'S
WENDY'S POINT OF SALES SYSTEMS AT 1,025 LOCATIONS
WERE INFECTED WITH MALWARE DURING A 5-MONTH
PERIOD. IN FEBRUARY, PATRONS BEGAN TO DISCOVER
UNUSUAL CREDIT CARD ACTIVITY, WHILE THE MALWARE
BEHIND THE BREACH WASN'T DISABLED UNTIL MAY.
ADDITIONAL MALWARE WAS DISCOVERED AND REMOVED IN
DECEMBER. CREDIT CARD NUMBERS, NAMES AND
EXPIRATION DATES WERE STOLEN, BUT CVV CODES WERE
NOT AFFECTED.
1,025
LOCATIONS HAD
CUSTOMER
CREDIT CARDS
COMPROMISED

6. WEEBLY
HACKERS WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN USERNAMES, PASSWORDS,
EMAILS AND IP INFORMATION FROM WEEBLY USERS IN
FEBRUARY, WITH THE ATTACK BECOMING PUBLIC IN
OCTOBER. HACKERS WERE UNABLE TO LOG IN TO USER
WEBSITES THANKS TO BYCRYPT HASHING PASSWORD
PROTECTION MEASURES. FINANCIAL INFORMATION WAS
NOT STOLEN, AS WEEBLY DOES NOT STORE THAT DATA ON
ITS SERVERS.
43MILLION ACCOUNTS
COMPROMISED

7. ADULTFRIENDFINDER
THIS ATTACK MADE THE ASHLEY MADISON BREACH OF 2015
SEEM AS INNOCENT AS A KISS. THE SITE WHICH HELPS
ADULTS FIND FRIENDS (TO GET COFFEE WITH, OF COURSE)
STORED USER PASSWORDS IN PLAIN VISIBLE FORMAT,
MAKING IT AN EASY TARGET FOR HACKERS WHO
COMPROMISED THE INFO ON 412 MILLION USERS. THE HACK
REVEALED OVER A MILLION SITE USERS LOGGED IN WITH
"123456" AS THEIR PASSWORD. THAT'S PROBABLY WORSE
THAN BEING ON THE SITE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
412MILLION ACCOUNTS
COMPROMISED

8. THE IRS
THE IRS' "GET TRANSCRIPT" SYSTEM WAS HACKED BY WHAT
THEY BELIEVE TO BE A SOPHISTICATED RUSSIAN OPERATION
WHO USED INFORMATION ON OVER 700,000 TAX PAYERS TO
FILE FRAUDULENT RETURNS. IN 2015 IT WAS BELIEVED THE
ATTACK HAD ONLY AFFECTED 100,000 AMERICANS.
700,000
TAX PAYERS
COMPROMISED
INFORMATION ON

9. SNAPCHAT
A PHISHING SCAM FOOLED 700 SNAPCHAT EMPLOYEES INTO
EMAILING PRIVATE INFORMATION TO AN UNKNOWN
HACKER WHO POSED AS A SNAPCHAT EXECUTIVE, ASKING
EMPLOYEES FOR THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND
PAYROLL DATA.
700EMPLOYEES FOOLED
BY PHISHING

10. BE SMARTER ABOUT DATA PROTECTION IN 2017
EDUCATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN STOPPING CYBER CRIME IN 2017.
IS YOUR SMALL BUSINESS PROTECTED? VISIT TRY.THROTTLENET.COM
TO LEARN HOW WE CAN HELP.
No Business is too large or too small to fall victim to a data breach or phishing
attack.
Simple passwords just don't work for users, either.
For Businesses, ALWAYS encrypt passwords and confidential data. Use an SSL
and enable 2-factor authentication.
Be sure you have malware, spyware and anti-virus protection on ALL network
connected devices.
NEVER send credit card numbers, social security numbers or other confidential
data over email even if you believe you trust the source. Hackers are more
sophisticated than ever before.
In the aftermath of a data breach, rekindling the trust of users and customers is
often the biggest challenge businesses and organizations face.