Department of Veteran Affairs – 2006
Some places in the world you just do not believe to be at risk because it would take a depraved person to go after them. In 2006, a depraved person did go after the Department of Veterans Affairs. The breach occurred almost by happenstance, a stroke of luck for an opportunistic hacker. An analyst for the department had their home broken into. Among the thing stolen was a laptop and external hard drive which held the private database. The analyst reported the theft to police immediately but James Nicholson, Secretary of the Veteran Affairs, was not notified for almost two weeks. Nicholson went to the FBI as soon as he was notified of the incidence and things got moving quickly. On June 29, 2006, the stolen items were anonymously returned to the Veteran Affairs office but the damage was already done. To protect and prevent future losses the Department had to spend somewhere between $100 and $500 million dollars.
TJX Companies – 2006
The final breach on our list of privacy disasters is TJX Companies Inc. This breach occurred back in 2006 and it would go on to affect nearly 100 million different credit cards. Amazingly, researchers still do not know how this breach occurred. One of the hypothesized sources of the contamination is rooted in the in-store kiosks that allow people to apply for jobs. Another hypothesis is that hackers took advantage of the weak data encryption system that TJX was employing. In any event, the hacking occurred and TJX and their customers would pay the price. Albert Gonzalez, the same man we listed above, was also behind this hacking as well. While he may enjoy notoriety as one of the most successful hackers of all time, he’ll have to enjoy it from behind bars. Alongside Gonzalez there were 11 other men and women arrested for their parts in the crime.
