Although relatively rare, there have been some notable leaks of employee salary information from well-known companies. These leaks are usually caused by data security breaches, insider violations, or cyberattacks. Here are some relevant details: 1. **Microsoft employee salary data leak (2021)** In 2021, Microsoft suffered a cyberattack in which hackers exploited a vulnerability in the company's Microsoft Exchange server to obtain a large amount of internal data. Although Microsoft quickly took remedial measures, the salary information of some employees may have been leaked in this attack. Microsoft made a public statement on the incident and strengthened its security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. 2. **Accellion FTA vulnerability caused salary data of multiple companies to be leaked (2020-2021)** Accellion is a company that provides file transfer solutions, and its software is widely used by many well-known companies and institutions. Between 2020 and 2021, Accellion's file transfer application (FTA) was found to have serious vulnerabilities, resulting in sensitive data from multiple organizations including the Los Angeles Federal Court and the Australian Defense Department being stolen by hackers. In some cases, employees’ personal data and salary information may also be included in the leaked data. 3. **Capital One Data Breach (2019)** While Capital One’s major data breach involved personal and financial information of more than 100 million customers, internal employee data may also be affected. Hackers gained access by exploiting employee configuration errors and obtained a large amount of data. This incident highlights the serious challenges that financial institutions face in data security. 4. **Indian IT Giant Infosys Salary Data Breach (2019)** Infosys, a well-known Indian IT company, suffered a data breach in 2019, and the details of more than one million employees were illegally accessed. This information included employees’ names, email addresses, some salary details, and job information. Although Infosys responded quickly and strengthened security measures, this incident reminded companies of the importance of strengthening internal data protection. 5. **Salary Data Leakage Caused by Insider Violations** In addition to external attacks, insider violations are also an important cause of salary data leaks. For example, in 2018, a former Visa employee leaked the salary information of some employees due to improper use of the company's internal system. Such incidents highlight the need for companies to strengthen internal controls and employee training. **Preventive measures and suggestions** To prevent similar salary data leaks, companies can take the following measures: - **Strengthen network security protection**: Regularly update and patch software vulnerabilities, adopt multi-factor authentication, and monitor abnormal access behavior. - **Internal permission management**: Strictly control employee access to sensitive data and limit it to absolutely necessary personnel. - **Regular security audits**: Through internal and external security audits, timely discover and fix potential security risks. - **Employee training**: Improve employees' security awareness and train them to identify and respond to potential cyber threats. - **Data encryption**: Encrypt sensitive data stored and transmitted to ensure that even if the data is stolen, it is difficult to interpret. These measures can help reduce the risk of sensitive data leakage and protect employee privacy and the company's reputation.