GAO audits carried out between fiscal years 2012-2017 have discovered significant cyber vulnerabilities in the U.S. Department of Defense’s top weapons systems, reflecting a misguided approach that does not take into consideration basic cyber security.
The Salt Typhoon state-sponsored hackers were able to maintain a footing in a state National Guard unit for nine months and use this position to intercept traffic from other national guard networks in all 50 states as well as at least four US territories.
The total cost of cybercrime jumped to $12.5 billion in 2023, and the FBI logged a record 880,418 complaints (a 10% increase from the previous year). This is in part being fed by ransomware attacks, which came close to doubling in total cost from 2022 to 2023.
Global shipping company Hipshipper used by Amazon, eBay, and Shopify sellers has suffered a data leak exposing over 14 million shipping records containing personal information.
A number of Dutch market research firms using a piece of industry software called Nebu have been breached, and the fallout appears to include about two million Netherlands residents. The data breach seems to mostly consist of contact information, but also includes income data.
Chinese hackers may have had illicit access to a federal surveillance system for months before being discovered and rousted. The access was apparently gained by compromising US telecoms Verizon and AT&T.
The privacy agreement consists of a list of "shared principles" drawn from "commonalities" in existing national laws, even though some OECD signatories have limited or no data privacy laws at the national or federal level.
In October 2022, TikTok quietly introduced a new emotion tracking feature for advertisers on its platform. Called "Focus Tracking," it promises to only put ads in front of users that it determines are "emotionally engaged".
Panda Express, the largest Chinese fast food chain in the US, leaked sensitive personal data during the March 2024 cyber attack that affected the parent company’s corporate systems.
The newly sworn-in President of Costa Rica began his administration by declaring a national emergency due to the extensive damage done by a spate of Conti ransomware attacks.









