In the 21^st century, the digital world has evolved to the point that anything is possible. However, that’s not always a good thing. With the use of smartphones so prevalent these days, the personal information of their users is stored, making it primarily easy to prey on them.

However, big companies and their data are not safe either. There are tons of hackers out there who can steal this information, resulting in a data breach that can change the entire map of a particular company. This is either done with malicious intent or as a result of unprotected or exposed data.

Here are some data breaches that changed the entire outlook of the digital world:

1. Adobe

In 2013, Adobe was hacked by unknown/undisclosed parties. It was reported that more than three million users’ credit card information was compromised along with the login data of numerous encrypted users.

Personal information, numerous IDs and passwords, credit and debit card information were hacked, unleashing the wrath of all of their users, who were understandably upset at this development. This incident caused uproar in the digital world, which led to heavy reputational damage to said company.

This breach of information impacted 153 million user records, costing around $1.1 million to Adobe, where they had to reimburse the loss to their users.

2. eBay

Back in May 2014, eBay had to face the biggest hack in their operational history, where their entire account list of 145 million users was compromised. This came as a shock to the digital world as they bashed eBay for its lack of communication and total information breach.

The user database was compromised as hackers had been able to use the credentials of three corporate employees, gaining access to the auction giant for more than 200 days, as reported by eBay itself.

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn has been a platform for numerous business professionals around the globe who are searching for jobs in their respective niches.

This social networking site has had to go through these kinds of attacks twice in its operational history as it was hacked in 2012 then later on in 2016.  

User data was leaked, and the personal information of around 165 million users was compromised. Later in 2016, it was revealed that IDs and passwords were being sold for bitcoins. LinkedIn took full responsibility for the incident and said that it had changed all the passwords of the affected users.

Final Word

There have been multiple data breaches that have changed the history of the digital world. One of the most noticeable things about these breaches was the immediate reimbursement of capital by the respective companies. However, once it is out on the internet, the damage is done, tainting the company’s name forever.