Technology
The 15 Biggest Data Breaches in the Last 15 Years
There’s no doubt that data breaches are a primary concern for people on the technological side of any modern business.
However, it’s increasingly the case that C-suite executives are catching wind of the potential business ramifications that these breaches can trigger.
In 2013, for example, the hacking of Yahoo not only compromised three billion email accounts – it also nearly jeopardized Verizon’s bid to acquire the company for $4.8 billion. At the end of the day, experts say that the breach knocked $350 million off of the sale price of Yahoo.
Counting Down the Breaches
Today’s infographic comes to us from Hosting Tribunal, and it highlights the biggest data breaches over the last 15 years.
Did you know that a whopping 14,717,618,286 records have been stolen since 2013?
It’s part of a much larger problem, and some experts anticipate that by 2021 the cost of cybercrime to the global economy will eclipse $6 trillion – a potential impact that would even supersede the size of the current Japanese economy ($4.9 trillion).
The 15 Biggest Data Breaches
Here are the most notable breaches that have occurred over the last 15 years, in ascending chronological order:
| Year | Company | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | AOL | 92 million screen names and email addresses stolen |
| 2013 | Yahoo | All 3 billion accounts compromised |
| 2013 | Target | 110 million compromised accounts, incl. 40 million payment credentials |
| 2014 | eBay | 145 million compromised accounts |
| 2015 | Anthem Inc | 80 million company records were hacked, including Social Security numbers |
| 2016 | 117 million emails and passwords leaked | |
| 2016 | MySpace | 360 million compromised accounts |
| 2016 | Three | 133,827 compromised accounts, including payment methods |
| 2017 | Equifax | 143 million accounts exposed, including 209k credit card numbers |
| 2016 | Uber | 57 million compromised accounts |
| 2018 | Marriott | 500 million compromised accounts |
| 2018 | Cathay Pacific | 9.4 million compromised accounts, including 860k passport numbers |
| 2018 | 50 million compromised accounts | |
| 2018 | Quora | 100 million compromised accounts |
| 2018 | Blank Media | 7.6 million compromised accounts |
Most of these breaches led to millions, or even billions, of records being compromised.
And while the motives behind cyberattacks can vary from case to case, the business impact of hacks at this scale should make any executive tremble.
Technology
Ranked: The World’s Top 10 Electronics Exporters (2000-2021)
Here are the largest electronics exporters by country, highlighting how electronics trade has increasingly shifted to Asia over 20 years.
Top 10 Electronics Exporters in the World (2000-2021)
From personal computers to memory chips, the electronics trade plays a vital role in the world economy. In 2021, global electronics exports reached $4.1 trillion according to McKinsey Global Institute.
This graphic shows the 10 largest electronics exporters in the world, based on data from McKinsey, and how they’ve changed since 2000.
Ranked: The Top 10 Exporters of Electronics
Which countries are the leading exporters of electronics, and how has this shifted over the last two decades?
| Rank | Country | Share of Total 2021 | Share of Total 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇨🇳 China | 34% | 9% |
| 2 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 11% | 6% |
| 3 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 7% | 5% |
| 4 | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 5% | N/A |
| 5 | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 5% | 5% |
| 6 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 4% | 13% |
| 7 | 🇺🇸 United States | 4% | 16% |
| 8 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 4% | 5% |
| 9 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 3% | 3% |
| 10 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 3% | N/A |
| Other | 20% | 30% |
We can see in the above table how global electronics trade has become more concentrated in Asia, specifically China and Taiwan. As an electronics powerhouse, 34% of the world’s electronic goods in 2021 came from China, representing $1.4 trillion in value.
Home to leading firms like TSMC, Taiwan also plays a major role due to its prowess in semiconductor manufacturing—highlighting the island’s global importance.
But not all of Asia has been thriving. In 2000, Japan was a global electronics powerhouse responsible for 13% of the industry’s exports, but has seen its share shrink to 4% in 2021. The U.S. has also sheen its electronics lead shrink, with exports down from 16% of the global total in 2000 to just 4% in 2021.
Several factors have driven this shift. Instead of manufacturing electronics domestically, the U.S. has outsourced technology to countries where manufacturing, production, and labor costs are lower. However, recently, the U.S. is focusing on reshoring semiconductor production specifically given its role in national security, as seen through the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act.
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