10 cyber attacks that shocked world history
(Baonghean.vn) - Cyber attacks are no longer rare, but there are cases that become the focus of the whole world. Below are the 7 most terrifying high-tech cases of the past decade.
1. The Marconi Telegraph Attack of 1903
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This was the first cyberattack in history, showing that wireless communication was indeed risky, even if it did not cause any financial loss. In 1903, during a demonstration of the Guglielmo Marconi wireless telegraph by physicist John Ambrose Fleming at the Royal Institution, a telegraph operator typed Morse code to send a poem.
However, magician Nevil Maskelyne was dissatisfied with this Marconi patent and carried out the attack by changing the poem to mock the author and Marconi's telegraph technology as a hoax.
2. 2007: “Cyber Conflict” in Estonia
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| Although the damage was not great, this "landing" showed the weaknesses of the Estonian government in establishing a security system. |
The attack lasted for 21 consecutive days. Many people even considered it as “World War I”. At around 10 pm on April 27, 2007, a series of Estonian government websites were shut down, including the websites of the president, parliament and ministries.
The Estonian Defense Ministry accused the Russian government of being behind the plot. Russia denied this. “War is no longer just about tanks and artillery,” Wired commented.
3. 2008: US top secret network hacked
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| The Pentagon must set up a new military unit to deal with cyber enemies. |
The top secret network (SIPRNet) and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence System (JWICS) were hacked by the Agent.btz worm from a USB drive. As a result, an immediate alert was issued, prohibiting the use of removable storage media for 14 consecutive months.
In June 2009, the US Cyber Command was established. It is headquartered at the US National Security Agency, Fort Meade, the Pentagon's cyber operations center, managing all military cyber branches under it. Other countries such as South Korea, the UK, etc. also learned from the US, creating their own national special forces.
4. 2009: Stuxnet worm attacks Iran's nuclear plant
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| Infrastructure becomes the new target of cyber attacks. |
In 2006, concerned about Iran's uranium enrichment for an atomic bomb, President George W. Bush sought help from military leaders - a weapon that turned Iran's efforts to zero without leaving a trace.
This is the world's first virtual weapon, codenamed "Olympic Games", later known as "Stuxnet". With a complex operating mechanism, along with some very unique and dangerous characteristics, Stuxnet has infected at least 14 industrial facilities in Iran, including a uranium enrichment plant.
It controls devices such as valves and furnaces, while also destroying programmable logic controllers (used to control systems, machines and tools used in industry) before self-destructing. This mechanism makes it impossible for Iran to trace Stuxnet.
5. Sony's Playstation Network in 2011
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In 2011, Sony's Playstation Network (PSN) system was attacked, causing 100 million user account information to be stolen, including bank account numbers, customer names, account names, and customer addresses. This was a large-scale DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack by hackers targeting a previous security vulnerability on Sony's system.
As a result, Sony was sued and fined £250,000 for failing to protect users' personal information.
6. 2012: Iran strikes back
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After the “Stuxnet” slap, the number of hackers in Iran increased dramatically. Iran built a high-tech army with nearly 20 million USD in support to take revenge. But these were only weak efforts shown in a few small attacks in the financial and irrigation sectors in the US.
It wasn't until August 2012 that Iranian hackers successfully broke into Saudi Arabia's oil giant, Saudi Aramco, completely destroying 35,000 computers.
Hours after a company employee clicked on an anonymous email link, one of the world's largest oil companies was forced to return to the days of typewriters and handwritten contracts.
This move makes the US wary of Iran. In fact, this Islamic country currently has the 4th largest cyber army in the world, after Russia, China and the US.
7. Red October 2012
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| Photo: Tech World |
The virus' mechanism is quite unique, called a "resurrection" module hidden in Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office software, allowing hackers to regain access if previously detected and removed. Kaspersky Lab revealed that "there is clear technical evidence that the attackers originated from Russian-speaking countries". They seem to focus on spying on diplomats and scientists.
There is also news that “Red October” likely started in 2007, targeting data from the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
8. 2014: Sony “falls”
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Sony taken down by hackers from Kim Jong-un's regime. |
The attack on Sony Pictures' US subsidiary leaked thousands of personal emails, social security numbers, unreleased movies, and private information of 47,000 employees working there, collaborators on films, and even famous actors.
During his year-end press conference, President Obama surprised everyone by saying that the attack originated from North Korea. According to the Washington Post, this is the first time the US has blamed another country for a cyber attack.
However, neither the FBI nor President Obama have provided any evidence to support this allegation, and Pyongyang’s continued denials have left the cybersecurity community skeptical to this day.
9. Turla 2014
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| Photo: Tech World |
Also known as “Uroburos” or “Snake,” Turla is another long-term cyberattack campaign by the sophisticated cyberespionage group Turla targeting government, diplomatic, military, educational, and research organizations.
They use a global satellite network to anonymously attack users and government organizations. They have attacked hundreds of computers in more than 45 countries, including Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Vietnam and the United States.
10. 2016: Hillary Clinton's email was hacked
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| Hillary Clinton's habits worked against her in the 2016 election. |
Marcel Lehel Lazar, a Romanian hacker known by the nickname “Guccifer,” accessed the Democratic candidate’s email server when she was US Secretary of State in 2013.
Guccifer said this email address is named[email protected]Although it was just Mrs. Clinton's secret email, used for campaigning, this has upset the majority of people.
The FBI director said the former US Secretary of State's actions were "extremely careless." Under federal law, official correspondence is considered government property.
Recently, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it would question Hillary Clinton. Many of her close associates have been “questioned” by the FBI recently.
Kim Ngoc
(Synthetic)
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