Yahoo fell victim to 2013 hacking incident–weighed as the biggest data infringement in history. Personal information of Yahoo users including phone numbers, passwords, security questions, and backup email addresses had been stolen in the modus operandi. The acquired data was up for trading on the dark web, but its value had been expected to suffer since the incident had been public.
Cybersecurity firm, InfoArmor, has identified Eastern Europe-based group of hackers called Group E responsible for the cybercrime. The same group was reported to have previously attacked Dropbox, Tumblr, and VK.com. This act was often led to identity theft where hackers could obtain further information. Hackers such as Group E had been selling stolen data to spammers and other parties for their gain.
Vocabulary:
hacking – gaining of access, wanted and unwanted, to a computer
infringement – an unauthoriized use of copyrighted or patented material or of a trademark, trade name or trade dress
modus operandi – a distinct pattern or method of operation that inidicates or suggests the work of a single criminal in more than one crime
identity theft – the illegal use of someone else’s personal information especially in order to obtain money or credit
spammer – someone who makes the most of their advanced technological knowledge to place advertisements online without having to pay any cos
True or False:
- The hacking incident last 2013 was tagged as the biggest data infringement in the history.
- The company that was the victim of the hacking incident was Google.
- Personal information of Yahoo users were stolen and were up for trading on the dark web.
- Western Europe- based group of hackers called Group E has been identified as the culprit of this cybercrime.
- The same group of hackers has attacked other websites such as Dropbox, Tumblr and VK.com.
Defend your argument:
- Discovering computer and the internet is a mistake.
- Hackers and spammers are considered genius and remarkably outsanding people.
- Cybercrime law in my country is not powerful enough to punish cyber criminals.
- Every website, especially online shops, banks and search engines should have tough security to prevent unwanted hacking of their client’ sensitive information.
Express your opinion:
- I trust the website that I use for my personal email account.
- As an internet user, are you aware of these suspicious hackers loitering around the cyberspace? Do you fear that someday you might get victimized by them? Explain your answers.
- Share your thoughts about this quote: “It is not the monsters we should be afraid of; it is the people that don’t recognize the same monsters inside of themselves.” – Shannon L. Alder