The Year of the Hack: The 10 Most Shocking Cyber Attacks of 2017

In April, the hotel company that owns a dozen hotel brands including the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza reported that hackers installed malware at 1,200 of its hotel locations in order to swipe credit card data.

In May, hackers targeted Gmail users in a phishing scam by sending emails asking recipients to click on a Google Doc link. Google stopped the attack the day it launched, but one million users were already affected.

In September, Deloitte, one of the world’s largest accounting firms, reported that hackers breached the company’s email, accessing sensitive information on 350 clients, including the U.S. government, banks, and other corporations.

In March, business services firm Dun & Bradstreet said its database with over 33 million contacts was leaked. The firm claims it wasn’t breached, but data on tens of millions of employees from Wal-Mart to the Defense Department was exposed.

In May,  WannaCry ransomware hit thousands of businesses, from FedEx to Nissan, resulting in a massive global cyberattack. Hackers stole the virus from the NSA, which prompted Congress to pass a bill to prevent the government from stockpiling cyber tools.

In June, ransomware attack Petya hit large companies across 65 countries in two days. Petya, which was based on leaked NSA and CIA cyber tools, affected Merck, DLA Piper, Maersk, and a Chernobyl power plant. 

In November, Uber revealed that it paid hackers $100,000 to delete stolen data and conceal a hack that affected the personal information of 57 million customers and drivers. By trying to hide the breach, Uber potentially violated the law and could be in hot water with the FTC.

In April, it was reported that a mysterious hacker group known as the Shadow Brokers leaked a trove of NSA and CIA hacking tools, exposing how intelligence agencies use ransomware and even smart TVs to spy. Hackers then used the tools in WannaCry and Petya attacks. 

In October, Yahoo disclosed that all of its three billion email users were compromised in a 2013 breach, exposing all of its customers' information, and earning it a spot as the largest-ever data breach.

In September, credit rating agency Equifax reported that hackers swiped the personal information--birth dates, addresses, and Social Security numbers--belonging to 143 million Americans, almost half the US population.