The crippling cyberattack launched against Sony Pictures by the "Guardians of Peace" is the most infamous attack of 2014, capping a year that has seen massive caches of financial details and personal information being delivered into the hands of hackers.
News about the attack against Sony Pictures will trend well into 2015. Let's revisit some of the cyberattacks that marked the year in a look at some of 2014's most notable security breaches.
Darkhotel
Though discovered in 2014, the Darkhotel syndicate is believed to have been hacking into the accounts of hotel guests since 2010. Darkhotel keeps a watch on a hotel's registry, seeking out the most lucrative of targets, such as executives, and then sending them a welcome package of malware when they connect to the hotel's network.
Darkhotel's malware searches out trade secrets, financial details and information that could give the hackers an indication of what direction the individuals' companies are headed financially. After collecting everything of worth, Darkhotel's malware covers its tracks and skulks back into the darkness.
iCloud Storm
It didn't reveal any financial details, but a cache of nude images of high-profile individuals drew a similar amount of attention to what Sony Pictures is now receiving. Lightning cracked and the sky fell when hackers exploited a vulnerability in Apple's Find My Phone service.
The intrusion occurred just as Apple was preparing to launch the latest version of iOS and its iPhone series, products the company praised for their security measures. Apple has now patched the vulnerability that enabled the hackers to log into celebrity accounts.
The Home Depot Intrusion
In November, Home Depot revealed in a report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the breach the home improvement store suffered has resulted in 44 civil suits. The company stated that it wasn't sure if the full scope of the breach it suffered was fully realized yet.
The Home Depot intrusion compromised approximately 53 million email addresses and 56 million credit cards for customers who shopped at any of the chain's 2,266 stores in the U.S. and Canada. The intrusion was discovered in September and was believed to have been initiated as early as April 2014.
The Strike on Montana's Health Database
Approximately 1.3 million health records were compromised when hackers breached the servers of Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services. The attack affect both current and past citizens, dead and alive.
The strike on Montana's Health Database was discovered in early June, though it was believed to have been initiated as early as May. Compromised information included Social Security numbers, names, birth dates and descriptions of the health services requested or received.
