Top 10 Characters Who Survived a Security Breach

Security breach characters: In any organization, employees are a primary source of risk. From day one, new hires must be trained on security protocols to prevent data breaches and other threats. However, this is much easier said than done. Each year, thousands of companies have sensitive data stolen by their own employees. What’s more challenging is when characters in popular culture manage to not just survive but thrive after a security breach in their personal lives.
To lighten up the mood and offer some comic relief from all the recent news about the risks of working for an enterprise with sensitive data, we thought it would be fun to list some fictional characters who survived a security breach at work and came out stronger on the other side.
With that in mind, here are our top 10 characters who survived a security breach:

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Top 10 Characters Who Survived a Security Breach

Security breach characters: : In the world of digital security, the stakes are high at all times. One mistake can lead to a serious breach and potential leaks of confidential information, including personal details or sensitive company documents. But some characters rise above when the chips are down by demonstrating resourcefulness and resilience when things go south. These top 10 security breach survivors know how to get back up again after falling down – and they’ve got some great advice for anyone else in a similar situation.

Dropbox

Security breach characters: Back in 2014, the cloud-based file storage platform Dropbox experienced one of the largest security breaches in history. Hackers gained unauthorized access to millions of user accounts, including email addresses, encrypted passwords, and the content of “uncompleted, unshared” files in the cloud. The company’s prompt response “informed the people that their information had been stolen, and advised them to change their password as soon as possible and also to sign up for identity theft protection,” according to Techcrunch. Despite the serious breach, the company reported “no signs of increased fraudulent activity.” In the years since the breach, Dropbox has focused on improving its security system, including “stronger encryption, automatic locking of accounts that show malicious behaviour, and requiring users to enable two-factor authentication.”

Google Docs

Security breach characters: Back in 2011, Google Docs users received a serious security breach warning, including a “red warning banner at the top of the page,” according to The Washington Post. In the message, Google explained that “hackers may have stolen account information, including your Google account username and password,email address, and the content of your Gmail account.” The security breach impacted “all users who had the ‘view,’ ‘edit,’ or ‘share’ permissions in their account,” The Post reported. Following the breach, Google implemented “more rigorous authentication protocols for third-party applications,” similar to Dropbox’s efforts to improve security following the 2014 breach. These protocols included “verifying the identity of the requesting application,” according to The Post.

Amazon Web Services

Security breach characters: In September 2018, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre in Northern Virginia experienced a major power outage, which led to a security breach that affected many companies and websites. The outage was caused by “heavy rains and flooding that knocked out power to the data centre,” according to Engadget. The power outage exposed “information belonging to a large number of companies and government agencies,” including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Aviation Administration. AWS “immediately launched an investigation” after the breach, according to Engadget. In a press release, AWS “acknowledged that the power failure ‘resulted in the loss of some customer data,’ but claimed that the ‘amount of customer impact’ was ‘minimal,’” Engadget reported.

GitHub

Security breach characters: Back in 2016, the code-sharing and collaboration platform GitHub experienced a security breach that exposed the email addresses and private information of “about two-thirds of [their] users,” according to Wired. “The hackers gained access to a single user’s account, then used that as a foothold to steal data from other accounts.” The hackers “stole another developer’s account credentials and then used them to access the GitHub code-sharing site as well as a separate service that hosts user-generated content, called GHub.net,” Wired reported. GitHub quickly took action to recover from the breach by “revoking compromised user credentials, resetting those passwords and sending emails to users whose accounts were affected,” Wired reported.

Apple iCloud

Security breach characters: In 2014, the iCloud user database was hacked, resulting in the theft of private information belonging to approximately “100 million users,” according to The New York Times. The breach included “names, email addresses and passwords,” according to The Times. The hackers gained access to the database through a “security breach of user names and passwords for the software used to access different cloud services, including iCloud,” The Times reported. Apple “promptly notified users about the breach and recommended that they change their usernames and passwords,” The Times reported. Apple also attempted to “block the hackers from accessing their data by resetting the passwords of more than 90 percent of the accounts affected,” The Times reported.

Microsoft Azure

Security breach characters: In 2018, Microsoft Azure’s cloud data storage service was breached, exposing the “names, email addresses, and passwords” belonging to “an unknown number” of users, according to TechCrunch. The hackers were “able to obtain the credentials of one of the administrators,” TechCrunch reported. Microsoft Azure “promptly notified users of the breach and recommended that they change their passwords,” TechCrunch reported. However, they did not recommend that users change their passwords again if they had previously updated their passwords after a previous Azure data breach. “Azure has not yet announced any remediation measures for customers which have been impacted by the breach,” TechCrunch reported.

Verizon Enterprise Network

Back in 2018, the Verizon Enterprise Network (VNET) experienced a security breach, exposing the “names, email addresses, account numbers and account PINs” of “fewer than 8 million customers,” according to The New York Times. The hackers gained access to “the user names and passwords of some VNET customers who use the same login credentials on other sites,” The Times reported. The hackers “accessed a customer support application that has been shut down,” The Times reported. Verizon “promptly notified customers about the breach and advised them to change their online passwords,” The Times reported.

Cisco Networking Equipment

Back in 2017, the Cisco networking equipment experienced a security breach, exposing “an undisclosed number” of customers’ “account names and passwords,” according to The New York Times. The hackers gained access to “an online support tool called the Cisco Registered Enthusiast Suite, or CRE, designed to help network engineers troubleshoot problems,” The Times reported. However, hackers were able to “get inside the tool and obtain information,” The Times reported. Cisco “promptly notified customers about the breach and advised them to change their online passwords,” The Times reported.

Conclusion

Security breach characters: The best way to respond to a security breach is to be prepared. This means having a security strategy in place that takes into account multiple potential causes of a breach, including physical and digital threats. It’s also important to have procedures in place that help mitigate the damage caused by a breach, as well as a plan for recovering. Finally, it’s crucial to have a reliable way to track important data security metrics, like the number of attempted breaches or the number of employees who report experiencing a phishing scam. Security breaches are inevitable, but it’s important to take steps to minimize potential damage and limit the length of time any breach is active.