Editing Computer security (section)

==Notable attacks and breaches==
{{Further|List of cyber-attacks|List of data breaches}}
Some illustrative examples of different types of computer security breaches are given below.
<!-- We don't want to list every breach ever – and please keep the descriptions short -->

===Robert Morris and the first computer worm===
{{Main|Morris worm}}

In 1988, 60,000 computers were connected to the Internet, and most were mainframes, minicomputers and professional workstations. On 2 November 1988, many started to slow down, because they were running a malicious code that demanded processor time and that spread itself to other computers – the first internet [[computer worm]].<ref name="multiple">Jonathan Zittrain, 'The Future of The Internet', Penguin Books, 2008</ref> The software was traced back to 23-year-old [[Cornell University]] graduate student [[Robert Tappan Morris]] who said "he wanted to count how many machines were connected to the Internet".<ref name="multiple" />

===Rome Laboratory===
In 1994, over a hundred intrusions were made by unidentified crackers into the [[Rome Laboratory]], the US Air Force's main command and research facility. Using [[trojan horse (computing)|trojan horses]], hackers were able to obtain unrestricted access to Rome's networking systems and remove traces of their activities. The intruders were able to obtain classified files, such as air tasking order systems data and furthermore able to penetrate connected networks of [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]]'s Goddard Space Flight Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, some Defense contractors, and other private sector organizations, by posing as a trusted Rome center user.<ref>[https://fas.org/irp/gao/aim96084.htm Information Security] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306140354/http://fas.org/irp/gao/aim96084.htm |date=6 March 2016 }}. United States Department of Defense, 1986</ref>

===TJX customer credit card details===
In early 2007, American apparel and home goods company [[TJX Companies|TJX]] announced that it was the victim of an [[Hacker (computer security)|unauthorized computer systems intrusion]]<ref>{{cite press release |title=The TJX Companies, Inc. Victimized by Computer System Intrusion; Provides Information to Help Protect Customers  |publisher=The TJX Companies, Inc. |date=17 January 2007 |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/tjx/20070117005971/en |access-date=12 December 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927014805/http://www.businesswire.com/news/tjx/20070117005971/en |archive-date=27 September 2012  }}</ref> and that the hackers had accessed a system that stored data on [[credit card]], [[debit card]], [[cheque|check]], and merchandise return transactions.<ref>[http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=2804836&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1 Largest Customer Info Breach Grows] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928041047/http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=2804836&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1 |date=28 September 2007 }}. MyFox Twin Cities, 29 March 2007.</ref>

===Stuxnet attack===
In 2010, the computer worm known as [[Stuxnet]] reportedly ruined almost one-fifth of Iran's [[nuclear centrifuge]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/stuxnet-was-far-more-dangerous-than-previous-thought-2013-11 |title=The Stuxnet Attack On Iran's Nuclear Plant Was 'Far More Dangerous' Than Previously Thought |website=Business Insider |date=20 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509020404/http://www.businessinsider.com/stuxnet-was-far-more-dangerous-than-previous-thought-2013-11 |archive-date=9 May 2014  }}</ref> It did so by disrupting industrial [[programmable logic controller]]s (PLCs) in a targeted attack. This is generally believed to have been launched by Israel and the United States to disrupt Iran's nuclear program<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stuxnet-worm-a-us-cyber-attack-on-iran-nukes/ |title=Stuxnet Worm a U.S. Cyber-Attack on Iran Nukes? |work=CBS News |first=Tucker |last=Reals |date=24 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016133651/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20017507-501465.html |archive-date=16 October 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/cyberwar-issues-likely-to-be-addressed-only-after-a-catastrophe |title=Cyberwar Issues Likely to Be Addressed Only After a Catastrophe |date=17 February 2011 |first=Kim |last=Zetter |magazine=Wired |access-date=18 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218154415/http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/cyberwar-issues-likely-to-be-addressed-only-after-a-catastrophe/ |archive-date=18 February 2011  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/cone-of-silence-surrounds-u-s-cyberwarfare-1.158090 |title=Cone of silence surrounds U.S. cyberwarfare |date=18 October 2011 |first=Chris |last=Carroll |publisher=Stars and Stripes |access-date=30 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307021747/http://www.stripes.com/news/cone-of-silence-surrounds-u-s-cyberwarfare-1.158090 |archive-date=7 March 2012  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crows.org/images/stories/pdf/IOI/IO%20Journal_Vol2Iss2_0210.pdf |title=Computers as Weapons of War |date=27 April 2010 |first=John |last=Bumgarner |publisher=IO Journal |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219174833/http://www.crows.org/images/stories/pdf/IOI/IO%20Journal_Vol2Iss2_0210.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2011  }}</ref> – although neither has publicly admitted this.

===Global surveillance disclosures===
{{Main|Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)}}

In early 2013, documents provided by [[Edward Snowden]] were published by ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite news|last=Greenwald|first=Glenn|title=NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 August 2013|quote=Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring [[Verizon]] to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under [[Barack Obama|Obama]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816045641/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order|archive-date=16 August 2013|date=6 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Seipel |first=Hubert |title=Transcript: ARD interview with Edward Snowden |url=https://www.freesnowden.is/fr/2014/01/27/video-ard-interview-with-edward-snowden/ |work=La Foundation Courage |access-date=11 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174333/https://www.freesnowden.is/fr/2014/01/27/video-ard-interview-with-edward-snowden/ |archive-date=14 July 2014  }}</ref> exposing the massive scale of [[NSA]] global surveillance. There were also indications that the NSA may have inserted a backdoor in a [[NIST]] standard for encryption.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Lily Hay |last=Newman |date=9 October 2013 |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/can-you-trust-nist |title=Can You Trust NIST? |journal=IEEE Spectrum |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201095426/https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/can-you-trust-nist |archive-date=1 February 2016  }}</ref> This standard was later withdrawn due to widespread criticism.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/sp800-90-042114.cfm | work=National Institute of Standards and Technology | title=NIST Removes Cryptography Algorithm from Random Number Generator Recommendations | date=21 April 2014}}</ref> The NSA additionally were revealed to have tapped the links between [[Google]]'s data centers.<ref>[http://mashable.com/2013/10/30/nsa-google-yahoo-data-centers/ "New Snowden Leak: NSA Tapped Google, Yahoo Data Centers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709131535/http://mashable.com/2013/10/30/nsa-google-yahoo-data-centers/ |date=9 July 2014 }}, 31 October 2013, Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, mashable.com</ref>

===Target and Home Depot breaches===
A Ukrainian hacker known as [[Rescator]] broke into [[Target Corporation]] computers in 2013, stealing roughly 40 million credit cards,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/target-missed-alarms-in-epic-hack-of-credit-card-data |title=Target Missed Warnings in Epic Hack of Credit Card Data |first1=Michael |last1=Riley |first2=Ben |last2=Elgin |first3=Dune |last3=Lawrence |first4=Carol |last4=Matlack |work=Businessweek |date=17 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127015928/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/target-missed-alarms-in-epic-hack-of-credit-card-data |archive-date=27 January 2015  }}</ref> and then [[Home Depot]] computers in 2014, stealing between 53 and 56 million credit card numbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/53-million-emails-stolen-in-home-depot-breach/ |first1=Seth |last1=Rosenblatt |title=Home Depot says 53 million emails stolen|date=6 November 2014|publisher=CBS Interactive|work=CNET|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209035159/http://www.cnet.com/news/53-million-emails-stolen-in-home-depot-breach/|archive-date=9 December 2014}}</ref> Warnings were delivered at both corporations, but ignored; physical security breaches using [[Self-checkout|self checkout machine]]s are believed to have played a large role. "The malware utilized is absolutely unsophisticated and uninteresting," says Jim Walter, director of threat intelligence operations at security technology company McAfee – meaning that the heists could have easily been stopped by existing [[antivirus software]] had administrators responded to the warnings. The size of the thefts has resulted in major attention from state and Federal United States authorities and the investigation is ongoing.

===Office of Personnel Management data breach===
In April 2015, the [[United States Office of Personnel Management|Office of Personnel Management]] [[Office of Personnel Management data breach|discovered it had been hacked]] more than a year earlier in a data breach, resulting in the theft of approximately 21.5&nbsp;million personnel records handled by the office.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cybersecurity-usa-idUSKCN0PJ2M420150709|title=Millions more Americans hit by government personnel data hack|date=9 July 2017|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=25 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228005352/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cybersecurity-usa-idUSKCN0PJ2M420150709|archive-date=28 February 2017}}</ref> The Office of Personnel Management hack has been described by federal officials as among the largest breaches of government data in the history of the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-suspects-hackers-in-china-behind-government-data-breach-sources-say-1433451888|title=U.S. Suspects Hackers in China Breached About four (4) Million People's Records, Officials Say|last=Barrett|first=Devlin|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=4 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604215718/http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-suspects-hackers-in-china-behind-government-data-breach-sources-say-1433451888|archive-date=4 June 2015}}</ref> Data targeted in the breach included [[personally identifiable information]] such as [[Social Security number]]s, names, dates and places of birth, addresses, and fingerprints of current and former government employees as well as anyone who had undergone a government background check.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/china-suspected-in-theft-of-federal-employee-records|title=China Suspected in Theft of Federal Employee Records|last=Risen|first=Tom|date=5 June 2015|website=U.S. News & World Report|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606064331/http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/china-suspected-in-theft-of-federal-employee-records|archive-date=6 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cybersecurity-usa-idUSKCN0PJ2M420150709|title=Estimate of Americans hit by government personnel data hack skyrockets|last=Zengerle|first=Patricia|date=19 July 2015|newspaper=Reuters|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710075449/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/09/us-cybersecurity-usa-idUSKCN0PJ2M420150709|archive-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> It is believed the hack was perpetrated by Chinese hackers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/us/breach-in-a-federal-computer-system-exposes-personnel-data.html|title=Hacking Linked to China Exposes Millions of U.S. Workers|last=Sanger|first=David|date=5 June 2015|work=The New York Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605135158/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/us/breach-in-a-federal-computer-system-exposes-personnel-data.html|archive-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>

===Ashley Madison breach===
{{main|Ashley Madison data breach{{!}}Ashley Madison Data Breach}}

In July 2015, a hacker group is known as The Impact Team successfully breached the extramarital relationship website Ashley Madison, created by Avid Life Media. The group claimed that they had taken not only company data but user data as well. After the breach, The Impact Team dumped emails from the company's CEO, to prove their point, and threatened to dump customer data unless the website was taken down permanently.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Mansfield-Devine
| first = Steve
| date = 1 September 2015
| title = The Ashley Madison affair
| journal = Network Security
| volume = 2015
| issue = 9
| pages = 8–16
| doi = 10.1016/S1353-4858(15)30080-5
}}</ref> When Avid Life Media did not take the site offline the group released two more compressed files, one 9.7GB and the second 20GB. After the second data dump, Avid Life Media CEO Noel Biderman resigned; but the website remained to function.

=== Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack ===
{{Main|Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack}}

In June 2021, the cyber attack took down the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S. and led to shortages across the East Coast.<ref>{{cite news| title=Hackers Breached Colonial Pipeline Using Compromised Password| author1=Turton, W.| author2=Mehrotra, K.| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-04/hackers-breached-colonial-pipeline-using-compromised-password| publisher=Bloomberg L.P.| date=4 June 2021| access-date=3 December 2023}}</ref>