One of the most controversial elements of this breach was that users did not appreciate or consent to the political usage of data from a seemingly-innocuous lifestyle app. Cambridge Analytica acquired data from Aleksandr Kogan, a data scientist at Cambridge University, who harvested it using an app called 'This Is Your Digital Life'. Cambridge Analytica was a data analytics company that was commissioned by political stakeholders including officials in the Trump election and pro-Brexit campaigns. Though a slightly different type of data breach as the information was not stolen from Facebook, the incident that affected 87 million Facebook accounts represented the use of personal information for purposes that the affected users did not appreciate. Adult Friend Finder data breachĭate: early 2018 (this is when a Cambridge Analytica whistleblower disclosed the story) If true, this would be the largest known breach of personal data conducted by a nation-state. Marriott believes that financial information such as credit and debit card numbers, and expiration dates of more than 100 million customers were stolen, although the company is uncertain whether the attackers were able to decrypt the credit card numbers.Īccording to the New York Times, the breach was eventually attributed to a Chinese intelligence group, The Ministry of State Security, seeking to gather data on US citizens. The information that was exposed included names, contact information, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest numbers, travel information, and other personal information. However, the discovery was not made until 2018. The attackers had gained unauthorized access to the Starwood system back in 2014 and remained in the system after Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016. In November 2018, Marriott International announced that hackers had stolen data about approximately 500 million Starwood hotel customers.

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