Muhammad Asim Ali- Posted on
The 11 Most Devastating Cyberattacks on the United States: Cyberattacks have become one of the most severe threats to national security and economic stability. The United States, as one of the most digitally advanced nations, has been a frequent target of state-sponsored and financially motivated cyber threats. Below are the 11 most devastating cyberattacks on the U.S., presented with the name, origin of the attack, exploited vulnerability, attack method, impact, loss, and authoritative proof of their occurrence, including detailed video news links.
- Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack (2021)
- Origin: Russian-based DarkSide ransomware group
- Vulnerability: Unsecured VPN credentials (no MFA)
- How It Happened: Hackers used stolen VPN credentials to access the Colonial Pipeline network and deployed ransomware to encrypt critical systems.
- Impact: Pipeline shut down; fuel shortages in Southeastern U.S.
- Loss: $4.4 million ransom (partially recovered by FBI)
- Proof:
Blog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Pipeline_ransomware_attack
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJM5zG9XhZ8 (ABC News)
- SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack (2020)
- Origin: Russian APT29 (Cozy Bear)
- Vulnerability: Compromised software update in Orion platform
- How It Happened: Attackers injected a backdoor (SUNBURST) into a SolarWinds software update, compromising 18,000+ customers, including U.S. government agencies.
- Impact: Espionage across U.S. federal networks
- Loss: Hundreds of millions in recovery costs
- Proof:
Blog: https://www.newevol.io/resources/blog/biggest-cyber-attacks-in-history
Video: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/solarwinds-hack-russia-cyberattack-60-minutes-2021-02-14/
- Equifax Data Breach (2017)
- Origin: Chinese military hackers
- Vulnerability: Unpatched Apache Struts (CVE-2017-5638)
- How It Happened: Attackers exploited an unpatched web application vulnerability to access internal databases and exfiltrate sensitive PII.
- Impact: Data theft of 147 million Americans
- Loss: $700 million in settlements and penalties
- Proof:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpTpUO9qSU0 (CBS News)
- WannaCry Ransomware (2017)
- Origin: North Korea’s Lazarus Group
- Vulnerability: EternalBlue exploit in SMB protocol
- How It Happened: The ransomware spread via EternalBlue, a leaked NSA exploit, encrypting systems and demanding Bitcoin ransom.
- Impact: 300,000 systems across 150 countries infected
- Loss: Estimated $4 billion worldwide
- Proof:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v5gtycGTps (BBC News)
- Kaseya VSA Attack (2021)
- Origin: Russia-linked REvil ransomware gang
- Vulnerability: Zero-day vulnerability in Kaseya’s VSA software
- How It Happened: REvil used a zero-day exploit to push ransomware to managed service providers and clients via Kaseya’s remote management tool.
- Impact: Over 1,000 businesses worldwide affected
- Loss: Tens of millions in ransom demands and business downtime
- Proof:
Blog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaseya_VSA_ransomware_attack
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Br2BZT93E (Reuters)
- MOVEit Transfer Attack (2023)
- Origin: Russian Clop ransomware group
- Vulnerability: Zero-day vulnerability in Progress MOVEit Transfer
- How It Happened: Attackers exploited the zero-day to inject SQL code and exfiltrate data from multiple government and private entities.
- Impact: Data breaches at over 2,500 organizations
- Loss: Exposure of more than 90 million personal records
- Proof:
Video: https://www.dataminr.com/resources/video/dataminr-in-action-moveit-data-breach/
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Breach (2015)
- Origin: Suspected Chinese state-sponsored actors
- Vulnerability: Poor encryption, outdated systems
- How It Happened: Attackers used spear-phishing and malware to access systems and steal sensitive personnel records, including biometric data
- Impact: Theft of sensitive background investigation data of 21.5 million individuals
- Loss: Compromised national security vetting system
- Proof:
Blog: https://www.wired.com/2015/12/the-years-11-biggest-hacks-from-ashley-madison-to-opm
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfHU_5-4WI4 (PBS NewsHour)
- Anthem Health Insurance Breach (2015)
- Origin: Chinese cyber espionage group
- Vulnerability: Stolen credentials; lack of encryption
- How It Happened: Attackers gained access via phishing emails and moved laterally within the network to extract personal data.
- Impact: Exposure of personal data of 80 million Americans
- Loss: Estimated $115 million in damages and lawsuits
- Proof:
Blog: https://www.wired.com/2015/12/the-years-11-biggest-hacks-from-ashley-madison-to-opm
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48OwUigrgRM (CBS News)
- SamSam Ransomware (2015–2018)
- Origin: Iranian hackers indicted by DOJ
- Vulnerability: Weak passwords; exposed RDP ports
- How It Happened: Attackers scanned for exposed RDP services, brute-forced credentials, and manually deployed ransomware on critical systems.
Impact: Hospitals, universities, and government entities targeted
- Loss: Over $30 million in costs and ransoms
- Proof:
Blog: https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R46974.html
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxLIqThzAhc (DOJ)
- Log4Shell Vulnerability Exploitation (2021–2022)
- Origin: Multiple actors, including state-sponsored
- Vulnerability: Apache Log4j library zero-day (Log4Shell)
- How It Happened: Hackers remotely executed arbitrary code via malicious log entries to compromise cloud servers and applications.
- Impact: Millions of servers vulnerable to remote code execution
- Loss: Billions in risk mitigation and updates globally
- Proof:
Blog: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log4Shell
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyq8yxWO1ls
- Bangladesh Bank SWIFT Heist (2016)
- Origin: North Korean Lazarus Group
- Vulnerability: Poor internal network security; insecure SWIFT practices
- How It Happened: Hackers infiltrated the bank’s network via phishing and installed malware to issue fraudulent SWIFT transactions.
- Impact: $81 million stolen (attempted $1 billion)
- Loss: Largest documented bank cyber theft
- Proof:
