Top Hottest Cyberattacks in the World in 2020

The hottest cyberattacks in the world in 2020 (Part 1) are events we need to look back on in order to learn valuable lessons for the turbulent year 2021. The pandemic changed everything—we shifted from the physical world to the digital one for work, study, and business. This transition also created favorable conditions for hackers to launch attacks, cause disruptions, and inflict widespread damage.

The list of major cyberattacks in 2020 includes ransomware, phishing, data leaks, security breaches, and a supply chain attack with severe consequences. Below are the top 10 largest cyberattacks in the world in 2020.

Toll Group – Attacked Twice in Three Months

Toll Group topped the list of the worst cyberattacks of the year after being hit by ransomware twice within three months. However, a Toll Group spokesperson told SearchSecurity that the two incidents were unrelated and were “based on different types of ransomware.”

On February 3, the Australia-based logistics company announced on Twitter that it had suffered a cyberattack.

“As a precautionary measure, Toll decided to shut down some systems in response to the cybersecurity incident. As a result, some customer-facing applications were affected. Our immediate priority is to restore services to customers as soon as possible,” Toll Group wrote.

The most recent attack occurred in May and involved a relatively new ransomware variant called Nefilim.

Marriott International – Unauthorized Data Access

For the second time in two years, the famous hotel chain suffered a data breach. On March 31, Marriott issued a statement revealing that the personal information of 5.2 million guests had been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise location.

According to the announcement, the breach affected an application used by Marriott to provide services to guests.

“We believe this activity began in mid-January 2020,” the statement said. “After discovery, we confirmed the credentials were disabled, immediately launched an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to notify and support affected guests.”

Magellan Cyberattack – May 12

On May 12, the healthcare insurance giant sent letters to victims informing them that they had been hit by a ransomware attack. The attackers successfully stole login credentials, personal information, and tax data.

The attack affected eight Magellan Health entities, and approximately 365,000 patients may have been impacted.

“On April 11, 2020, Magellan discovered that it had been targeted by a ransomware attack. The unauthorized attacker gained access to Magellan’s systems after sending a phishing email on April 6, impersonating a Magellan customer,” the letter stated.

At the time of writing, the company, which employs more than 10,000 people, reported no known cases of fraud or misuse of personal information. Phishing, a common attack vector, increased significantly in 2020 as attackers became more sophisticated in impersonation techniques.

Twitter Cyberattack – A Major Embarrassment

Few people can forget the incident in which many high-profile Twitter accounts were hacked, becoming a major cybersecurity embarrassment for the platform.

Through a social engineering attack—later confirmed by Twitter to involve phone-based phishing—attackers stole employee credentials and gained access to the company’s internal management systems. Dozens of famous accounts, including those of former President Barack Obama, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, were compromised.

The attackers then used these accounts to post Bitcoin scam tweets, earning more than $100,000. Two weeks later, the U.S. Department of Justice identified three suspects and charged 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark as the mastermind.

Garmin

The navigation technology provider suffered a cyberattack that encrypted several systems and forced services offline. Although Garmin initially reported the incident as a system outage, the company later revealed on July 27 that it was the victim of a cyberattack that disrupted “website functions, customer support, customer applications, and corporate communications.”

According to the company, there was no evidence that customer data had been accessed, lost, or stolen. Many speculated that the incident involved ransomware, although Garmin never officially confirmed this.

Some media outlets reported that Garmin paid a ransom, with estimates reaching up to USD 10 million.