2024 saw major cybersecurity incidents, from global ransomware attacks to espionage operations.
This year was nothing short of a rollercoaster for cybersecurity. From ransomware attacks to state-sponsored espionage, the digital world faced some of its most serious challenges yet. These incidents not only disrupted systems but forced a global rethink of cybersecurity strategies. Here are the top five cyber incidents that defined 2024.
In July, a faulty update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software caused chaos, affecting 8.5 million Windows systems. The update triggered system crashes and boot loops, disrupting operations for banks, hospitals, airlines, and broadcasters worldwide.
Although CrowdStrike quickly rolled back the update, the damage had already been done. The fallout included intensified scrutiny from Microsoft, which questioned whether such deep kernel-level access was necessary for security software.
In February, global police agencies delivered a heavy blow to the LockBit ransomware gang in a coordinated operation called Operation Cronos. Servers were seized, suspects were arrested in Poland and Ukraine, and rogue accounts were shut down.
However, the celebration didn’t last long. Reports of new LockBit ransomware attacks began surfacing just months later, proving that remnants of the group—or its imitators—were still active. Extortion demands and stolen data leaks continued to plague victims worldwide.
Two massive cyber-espionage campaigns linked to Chinese state-backed groups rocked the U.S. in 2024.
The Volt Typhoon group infiltrated critical infrastructure systems, lying dormant and preparing to disrupt or destroy operations in case of escalating U.S.-China tensions. Meanwhile, Salt Typhoon targeted telecom giants like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, stealing vast amounts of metadata, phone call records, and even intercepted communications from high-profile figures like Donald Trump.
These operations highlighted the scale and sophistication of state-sponsored cyber-espionage.
In September, the Internet Archive, a beloved non-profit digital library, suffered a series of attacks. Hackers exposed 31 million files, including email addresses and usernames, by stealing a 6.4GB SQL file.
The situation worsened with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack launched by a pro-Palestinian group and another breach involving stolen authentication tokens. The Archive took over a month to fully recover from these incidents.
In February, ransomware struck Change Healthcare, a U.S. healthcare payment provider. The attack disrupted prescriptions and healthcare services nationwide, leaving patients and providers in disarray.
To resolve the issue, the parent company UnitedHealth Group paid a $22 million ransom, only for BlackCat to disappear with the money, scamming its affiliates in the process. By October, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 100 million data breach notices had been issued, marking this as the largest known healthcare data breach in U.S. history.
From ransomware to espionage, 2024 was the year of growing scale and severity of cyber threats. As we move into 2025, let’s hope these lessons drive meaningful changes in the way we defend our digital landscapes.
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