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Home / Top 20 Best-Known Cybersecurity Case Studies 2025
Feb 5, 2025
The expansive global adoption of digital technology and its manifold benefits of greater convenience face the challenge of a higher degree of vulnerability to data breaches. Data breaches were in action well before the internet reached massive popularity and mass usage. Companies today rely on data to drive growth and other advanced technologies to store sensitive data. Cyberattacks and data breaches come as a part and parcel of the technological advancements. With the increasing use of digital services, cybercriminals are becoming increasingly skilled and sophisticated.
Data breaches and cyberattacks have become commonplace today. In the coming days and years, the world will see evolving tactics of ransomware actors, a spike in data breaches and info stealers, and a swelling number of targets on edge devices. This massive rate of cyberattacks and their impact necessitate every tech-driven entity to bolster their cybersecurity measures. In this blog, we will explore top case studies in cybersecurity and highlight the dire need for robust and evolved cybersecurity techniques. The blog aims to draw on the analysis of real-world case studies on cybersecurity incidents and stress the gravity of cybersecurity for every organization and individual.
Cybersecurity attack causes devastating loss to companies. It not only affect targeted companies, but everyone connected to them. From clients to employees to their reputation, the consequences of a cyberattack are often costly and challenging for reviving. However, dodging these expensive step lies in the proactivity of the organization. Avoiding such downfall requires awareness and education, apart from securing the infrastructure, systems and networks with robust cybersecurity protocols. Learning from notable incidents and breaches is one of the ways to be equipped for tackling such challenges and avoiding unwanted loss. Let's get going and learn how you and your companies can effectively keep guard from different kinds of cybersecurity attacks and breaches. This will also inform the unversed about the intensity of cyberattacks and their impact.
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Case: In May 2023, Tesla, the famous American multinational company specializing in automotive and clean energy, faced the risk of meeting $3.3 billion penalty for not securing sufficient data protection. This incident occurred when two former employees stole the company’s confidential data and leaked them to Handelsblatt, a German news outlet. This data breach put the personal information of 75,735 employees, both current and old, at risk, including Elon Musk's, the CEO's own social security. The malicious actors gained unauthorized access to Tesla's internal documents and exposed confidential data amounting to about 100 gigabytes. This incident was attributed to internal actions impacting 75,000 individuals.
What can we learn from the Incident?
The Tesla incident highlights the importance of securing the organization's sensitive data and ensuring its protection with further protocols. The foremost thing is to limit access to the company's confidential data and critical systems. Establishing strong access management and practice is essential for every organization to ensure protection of valuable data and critical systems. Another indispensable step is to ensure regular audit and monitoring of user activity. This will enable organizations to keep check of malicious activities hovering around and also detect suspicious behaviour and anomalies within the company. Another essential step is to cancel access permissions to former employers.
Case: In February 2022, Yahoo suffered a heavy blow when an employee Qian Sang, in the position of a senior research scientist, stole the company's Intellectual property by downloading 570,000 files of source code just as he quit to join Trade Desk, a direct competitor of Yahoo. The files include Yahoo's source code of AdLearn- propriety ML ad optimization tech, the company's engine for DSP-digital marketplace for real-time ad purchase, GitHub repositories, Bidding research files, and strategy document which also included competitive analysis of the Trade Desk. Yahoo alleged this download was made 45 minutes after the Trade Desk gave their offer to Sang. He downloaded the source code to Yahoo's company laptop and transferred it without permission to two other personal external storage devices. These devices were in Sang's possession until a cease-and-desist order was filled by Yahoo.
What can we learn from the incident?
It should be the company's foremost priority to protect its intellectual property by identifying its location and who should have access to it- concerning who really needs it. Granting access rights to the employees only when they are required to perform their tasks must be practised. There are a few other robust cybersecurity measures to ensure the protection of the IP of a company, including the use of advanced access management solutions, monitoring user activity and deploying tools like UEBA (User and entity behaviour analytics). Companies should also consider deploying USB management solutions and enabling real-time incident response. These solutions are not alternatives, but imperatives for businesses to enforce strong security and protection against threat actors.
Case: In March 2024, the famous American Express suffered a data breach in its merchant processor, when an unauthorized party gained access to its confidential customer information. The malicious actors made a point-of-sale attack, resulting in the compromising of the company's customer's sensitive information including names, card expiration dates, and account numbers (current and former).
What can we learn from the incident?
The modern business norm entails having an advanced supply chain with several vendors, subcontractors and third-party services onboard. Allowing third parties to access networks and systems poses huge risks. In the case of the American Express incident, such a breach could have been avoided by deploying cyber risk management practices for third parties. It is critical for businesses to only partner with vendors that practice and maintain strong cybersecurity policies and adhere to rules and regulations. To avoid expensive losses caused by third-party vendor attacks, ensure assessing the cybersecurity measures of your subcontractors, and securing critical assets by using Multi-Factor Authentication and real-time Privileged Access Management. Another crucial thing is to continuously enhance the company's supply chain security. Organizations must also monitor their third-party vendors and subcontractors.
Case: In January 2023, Mailchimp, a key player in email marketing and newsletters, revealed of detected an unauthorized user in its system. The intruder as claimed by Mailchimp gained access to the tool that the company uses for customer support and account administration. The attacker employed social engineering techniques to target its employees and gain access to their account credentials. The threat actor gained access to the company's data through those credentials and stole 133 Mailchimp accounts. Although no serious repercussion occurred it may have compromised sensitive personal information of the company's customers, including names and email addresses.
What can we learn from the incident?
Besides establishing a strong cybersecurity policy within the organization, giving clear and strict instructions is key. Conducting regular awareness campaigns and training sessions will enable the full strength of the security measures, as employers have an in-depth understanding of the nuances of cyberattacks and their impact. There will be fewer to no cases of social engineering cyberattacks if employers are aware of the types of social engineering attacks. Organizations must ensure the establishment of clear cybersecurity routines and must conduct training on cybersecurity. Leveraging tools like UEBA and constantly enhancing privileged account security must be a priority.
Case: In what can be referred to as a major data leak, in June 2022, Pegasus Airlines had a configuration faulty in one of their databases. The technical fault was caused by an employee who misconfigured the airline's security settings, resulting in the exposure of the company's valuable data amounting to 6.5 terabytes. The consequence of the misconfiguration of the AWS bucket was the compromise of 23 million files including navigation materials, flight charts and personal information of their crews, where public could easily see and modify.
What can we learn from the incident?
The case highlights the importance of conducting cybersecurity training for all employees and establishing robust security policies within an organization. Employees tasked with sensitive configuration jobs must be well-equipped to perform their tasks with efficiency and care. They must be aware of cybersecurity best practices to prevent data exposure. Additionally, regular security audits must be proactively done to ensure swift and timely addressing of any error or misconfiguration. Security audits are essential for identifying vulnerabilities and weak spots in the systems, networks and databases.
Case: In what can be termed an evolved type of cyber threat, Cactus- a ransomware-as-a-service (raas) group invaded the networks of Schneider Electric, a multinational energy management company and impacted a data breach of 1.5 terabytes from its sustainability business division, in mid-January 2024. Schneider Electric is a giant company, providing high-profile companies with renewable energy, and consulting services for regulatory compliance at the global scale. The companies include PepsiCo, Clorox, Walmart, Clorox, DHL, Hilton, DuPont, Allegiant Travel Company and Lexmark. With the magnitude of sensitive information the company holds, including the information on industrial control and automation systems and compliance information on environmental and energy regulations, the data breach is a humongous loss in terms of finance and reputational downfall and regulatory scrutiny.
What Can we learn from the incident?
Industry giants and companies of critical importance playing vital roles in the economy must ensure the adoption and implementation of proactive cybersecurity measures. Their heavy reliance on technologies and connected devices must be well-balanced with strong security strategies. For companies like Schneider Electric and other manufacturing giants, sticking to stringent security measures is critical. They must ensure the following in their cybersecurity protocol: Strong protection for their protection technology, compliance with evolving regulatory norms, and guaranteeing business continuity in the face of growing threats.
Case: In September 2024, Kawasaki Motors Europe faced a huge blow of cyber attack compelling the company to take their servers offline to curb the breach. The threat actors were able to exfiltrate 487GB of data. The data compromised financial information, critical business documents, dealership details, banking records and internal communications.
What can we learn from the incident?
Businesses and organisations operating in any region, particularly in the European region must ensure compliance with the regional regulatory norms for solidifying their cyber resilience. Different countries and regions have their own regulatory standards and norms to which every organization or those desiring to enter the market must prioritize adhering to the standards.
Case: In one of the biggest IT failures at a global scale, a flawed update on Crowsdstrike cloud-based security software causes a global IT outage affecting 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices. The outage caused a global disruption cutting across various industries including healthcare providers, cash machines, banks, airlines, and retail payment terminals, amounting to a loss of over $1 Billion.
What can we learn from the Incident?
One of the major lessons the Crowdstrike incident brought to light was the risks associated with reliance on a single provider for IT service in the absence of a strong incident response mechanism. It is critical for organizations to put in place a resilient cyber incident response plan for quick redressal and cutting down on downtime and other losses like financial or reputation. From strategizing effective communication strategies to implementing rapid containment protocols, businesses must ensure bolstering their resilience against cyber failure or attack. They must commit to regular testing and audits to ensure efficiency and smooth operation.
Case: The Financial Services Subsidiary of ICBC ( Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) came under a heavy blow of ransomware attack in November 2023 disrupting the US treasury market. The attack caused the brokerage its ability to settle trades for other market players and caused a temporary debt of $9 billion to BNY Mellon.
What can we learn from the incident?
The incident highlights the growing risks and vulnerabilities of financial institutions in terms of cybersecurity. It exposes the magnanimity of such incidents, given how business and financial systems are related. The consequences of a cyber attack will not be limited to the target companies but extend beyond far and wide.
Case: In November 2023, Ardent Health Services in the US experienced a ransomware attack. The Ardent Health Services owns 30 hospitals and over 200 sites. To contain the attack, the company had to take its network offline and suspend all user access to its IT applications. This halt caused operational disruptions across multiple states. From diverting emergency room patients to other hospitals to rescheduling non-emergent, elective procedures, and patients having to reschedule their appointment and being crippled to make prescriptions refill online or make online appointments. This attack impacted critical care across three states.
What can we learn from the incident?
The cases of cybercriminals attacking critical infrastructures and giant companies are on the rise by using sophisticated cyber campaigns and strategies. Healthcare Institutions are among the most critical targets for malicious actors. Implementing stringent and comprehensive cybersecurity strategies is imperative for every organization. Enterprises must perform regular data backups and update their IT software. Patch management must be a priority to address any vulnerabilities. Training employees again is a critical cybersecurity component for every organization. Another important method for big organizations to combat cyberattacks is to deploy network segmentation and divide their networks. This way, organizations can curb and mitigate the spread and impact of data breaches and attacks.
Case: Another compelling case that throws light on the dangers of cyberattacks and their impact is the case of DP World Australia where a cyberattack disrupted their operations leading to a backlog of 30K shipping containers. The company is among the largest port operators in Australia, managing about 40 per cent of the country's total flow of goods. The attack impaired and affected operations at its various container terminals in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Fremantle.
What can we learn from the incident?
Representing one of the latest cyberattacks on such a large scale on critical infrastructure, the incident was also an eye-opener for governments to invest in cybersecurity protocols and prioritize such initiatives. The incident calls for proactive cybersecurity measures, including patch management and robust access controls. To ensure business continuity even in the face of cyberattack evolution, it's essential for every business or organization to implement and put in place strong incident response plans and strategies.
Case: In one of the largest attacks ever, a cyberattack hit Google Cloud with a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Services) on 10 October 2023. The attack was part of a mass exploit of a zero-day vulnerability, resulting in a peaking above 398 million RPS (request per second). The attack was deployed using a novel technique, HTTP/2 Rapid reset foundational on stream multiplexing.
What can we learn from the incident?
A DDoS attack has the potential of stopping access to all the web pages, network services or systems of a provider. The success of these services is reliant upon the uninterrupted availability of these services, cloud service providers like Google, Amazon, etc. Organizations that rely on the internet for their operations must invest in DDoS protection as a primary cybersecurity measure.
Case: The multinational company experienced an attack in May 2022, in which the company claimed the attacker had gained access to its employee's Google account using voice phishing attacks. The attacker had easy access to the company's internal systems as the employee's credentials were synchronized in a browser. Following the phishing attack, a ransomware gang Yanluowang leaked CISCO's files on their website.
What can we learn from the incident?
Although CISCO did not suffer a severe repercussion from the attack, the attack itself is evidence of a weak security set-up in the company. Organizations must ensure security at every endpoint and train their employees on every form of cyberattack. Companies must employ security solutions that enable multi-factor authentication.
Case: In January 2021, MeetMindful, a dating app, was caught up in a data hack that impacted over 2 million users. Their data were stolen and leaked. The hackers managed to access and steal users' critical information. The hackers leaked stacks of information ranging from names, contact information and users' Facebook (now Meta) account tokens.
What can we learn from the incident?
The incident brought to light the importance of securing personal social media accounts at the individual level. Every individual with internet access and a digital life must be wary of sharing their personally identifiable information only when necessary. Social media platforms are a treasure trove of sensitive information which requires device permission like access to camera, location, and contacts. Users of such platforms must be cautious of the risks involved with trusting apps and other platforms. App developers must ensure embedding security measures while developing apps.
Case: In 2019, Facebook (now Meta) a social networking giant came under the attack of a security breach resulting in the compromise of 533 million users' personal information from across 157 countries. This global-level impact of hacking was deployed by hackers using a technique called “Scraping”. The breach exposed critical information of the Facebook users including full names, birthdates, phone numbers, email addresses, locations and biographical information.
What Can we learn from the Incident?
The breach may not have a financial impact or may not have compromised users' passwords, but the compromised data offers cybercriminals the scope and tools for further cybercrime like social engineering attacks and identity theft. Companies offering such platforms must comply with the standard rules and regulations and must commit to continually monitoring their privacy and data protection enforcement.
Case: In August 2023, a massive data breach brought down Dollar Tree, an American discounted variety store. A Fortune 500 company operating 15,115 stores across 48 states in America, including Canada. The incident occurred when Zeroed-In Technologies, LLC came under a security breach. The attackers stole the information of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar employees and customers. The data theft included names, social security numbers and dates of birth. The attackers could access this information as Zeroed-In did not have a secure public network where they store unencrypted data, shared by Dollar Tree as one of their vendors.
What can we learn from the incident?
Organizations working and collaborating with other vendors must ensure the securing of their systems, data, and networks with a robust cybersecurity practice. It is common for businesses to work with outside vendors in their attempts to cut down costs and deliver better services to their clients and customers. Sharing and granting access to sensitive information is a normal procedure. However, every participating entity must ensure putting the same amount of security efforts and scrutiny of managing risks. Businesses must also ensure that their partner vendors have robust security practices in place.
Case: In October 2023, Mr. Cooper, a financial services firm, experienced a cyberattack wherein the company incurred about $25 Million in response and recovery costs. In the attack, suspected ransomware gained access to the personal data of every customer (former and current) amounting to 14 million people.
What can we learn from the incident?
The Mr. Cooper ransomware attack is one out of the many such attacks on critical financial firms. Such incidents undermine customer's confidence and threaten financial stability. Stringent compliance with regulatory standards for cybersecurity must be followed by every individual financial services firm to avoid penalties and fines. Protecting the customer's critical information also comes as a priority for such institutions.
Case: In a data preach impacting 2.3 million patients, TruePill suffered a massive blow of cyberattack in August 2023. Although the company failed to release an official notice of how such a huge data breach occurred, a class action lawsuit claimed of the incident caused by insufficient data security measures. The attack managed to access company's critical files containing sensitive information of its patients including names, patient's prescribing physician's names, demographic info, types of medication, etc.
What can we learn from the incident?
Healthcare industries are among the top victims of large-scale cyberattacks. Third-party security is a critical component that every organization, particularly healthcare institutions, must adopt given how susceptible the industry is to different forms of cyberattacks. Some key cybersecurity measures necessary to strengthen third-party or vendor security include: Regular tracking of metrics and KPIs, conducting third-party assessments. Relying on automation can greatly strengthen the management of third-party and improve protection against data breach.
Case: In October 2023, UK's largest library came under a major disruption caused by a cyberattack that leaked 600 GB data. Although the British Library was prompt in isolating and protecting its network, its online systems were already disrupted significantly resulting to its website going down and even lost access to emails.
What can we learn from the incident?
Regular updating of cyber resiliency measures and implementing a strong incident recovery plan are mandatory for every organization to prevent costly and time-taking recoveries.
Case: Boeing, which is also the one of the largest defense and space contractors in the world was hit by a ransomware attack in October 2023, causing a disruption in its parts and distributions business. The hackers leaked 43GB data when Boeing denied to pay the demanded ransome.
What can we learn?
A robust vulnerability tool in place is key to maintaining a strong security measure. It also aids organizations understand its risk profile.
Conclusion
The above case studies shed light on the hazards of cyberattacks and their impact. Global cybercrime is projected to cost the world $10.5 trillion by 2025. This data itself speaks of the dire need to strengthen cybersecurity measures in every organization. The raging growth of AI and other cutting-edge technologies is bound for more sophisticated crimes in the digital arena. Learning to harness the potential of these innovative technologies for the greater good is a vital step. Tech professionals must up their game, and students interested in building a career in the most volatile and challenging field like Cybersecurity must ensure attaining the right skill sets. A Doctorate in Computer Science and Master's in Computer Science is an ideal track that will open doors to various roles and positions in the tech landscape.
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