Chronicles of Compromise

Stories from the history of cyber attacks. Lessons for the future.

The internet runs on trust.

Every day, billions of systems exchange data, process transactions, and store information we depend on. But history has shown how fragile that trust can be.

A missed patch.
A stolen credential.
A vulnerability no one noticed.

Chronicles of Compromise documents the cyber attacks that exposed those weaknesses. Each story explores the timeline, the techniques, and the people behind some of the most significant breaches in modern history.

Understanding how these attacks happened is more than curiosity.

It’s how we learn to stop the next one.

  • The Parking Lot Heist: How TJX Lost 94 Million Records to a Laptop and a Weak Wi-Fi Signal
    In late 2005, a significant data breach occurred at TJX Companies due to poorly secured wireless networks, leading to the compromise of approximately 100 million payment cards over 18 months. The breach was caused by a hacking group led by Albert Gonzalez. The incident highlighted severe flaws in network security and compliance.
  • The Six Days America Ran Out of Gas
    On May 7, 2021, the Colonial Pipeline experienced a ransomware attack due to a compromised VPN account lacking multi-factor authentication. The attackers, linked to the DarkSide group, stole 100 gigabytes of data, prompting a shutdown of fuel operations affecting the East Coast. Colonial paid $4.4 million in ransom, later recovering part of it.
  • The Billion-Dollar Typo
    How North Korea’s phantom hackers nearly broke the global banking system Prologue 4:00 AM, 5 February 2016. Dhaka is sleeping. The streets around Bangladesh Bank’s headquarters on Motijheel Avenue are quiet. The overnight staff are keeping watch, but there’s nothing to watch. The SWIFT terminal hums. The servers breathe. Everything is ordinary. Somewhere on the… Read more: The Billion-Dollar Typo
  • The Day Ireland’s Health Service Went Dark
    On May 14, 2021, Ireland’s Health Service Executive fell victim to a devastating ransomware attack triggered by a single phishing email. The attack crippled hospitals nationwide, delaying treatments and compromising patient data. Despite warnings, the incident reflected systemic cybersecurity failures within the organization, ultimately highlighting vulnerabilities in health services globally.
  • “The Bandwidth Wars” – The Flood No One Could See
    On February 28, 2018, GitHub experienced a massive DDoS attack that peaked at 1.35 terabits per second, utilizing misconfigured Memcached servers to amplify traffic. Within ten minutes, GitHub rerouted traffic and absorbed the attack. By 2020, AWS faced a larger attack but successfully mitigated it, showcasing evolving defense strategies against infrastructure disruption.

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