Hackers begin systematically exfiltrating personal data of 147.9 million Americans from Equifax systems through an unpatched Apache Struts vulnerability (CVE-2017-5638). The breach, which Equifax would not disclose until September 7, 2017, represents one of the largest cybercrimes related to …
EquifaxRichard SmithApache Software FoundationConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)corruptionregulatory-capturetechcybersecuritydata-breach+2 more
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico marked the beginning of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The explosion killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil spill that would leak approximately 134 million gallons of oil over 87 days. The disaster …
BP (British Petroleum)Transocean LtdHalliburtonMinerals Management ServiceBarack Obama+2 moreenvironmental-disastercorporate-negligenceoil-industryregulatory-capturegulf-coast
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret from Pittsburgh, was electrocuted in a shower at Radwaniyah Palace Complex near Baghdad on January 2, 2008, when an improperly grounded water pump installed by KBR short-circuited and sent electrical current through the shower water. Pentagon …
Ryan MasethKBRHalliburtonDepartment of DefenseDefense Contract Management Agency+2 moreprivate-militarycorporate-impunityaccountability-crisiswar-crimescorporate-negligence
Four Blackwater contractors—Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Mike Teague—were ambushed and killed by Iraqi insurgents while conducting a delivery for food caterers ESS in Fallujah. The contractors’ bodies were beaten, burned, dragged through the city streets, and hung from a …
Erik PrinceBlackwaterScott HelvenstonJerry ZovkoWesley Batalona+2 moreprivate-militaryiraq-warwar-crimescorporate-negligenceaccountability-crisis
On December 3, 1984, a catastrophic gas leak at Union Carbide’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, India killed an estimated 3,800 people immediately and up to 16,000 in the following weeks. Hundreds of thousands suffered long-term health effects. The disaster exposed how multinational corporations …
Union Carbide CorporationWarren AndersonIndian governmentU.S. chemical industryChemical Manufacturers Associationenvironmentalcorporate-negligencepollutionpublic-healthinternational+1 more
On September 3, 1973, a fire destroys the baghouse pollution control system at the Bunker Hill lead smelter in Kellogg, Idaho—then the largest smelting facility in the world. In a secret board meeting, Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp., the facility’s owner, makes a calculated decision to …
Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp.Bunker Hill Mining & Metallurgical ComplexIdaho Department of HealthU.S. Environmental Protection Agencycorporate-crimeenvironmental-destructionmining-industrypublic-healthcorporate-negligence
On June 8, 1917, a fire broke out 2,400 feet underground in Butte, Montana’s Speculator Mine when an assistant foreman’s carbide lamp ignited the frayed insulation on an electrical cable. The fire spread rapidly through the mine’s timber supports and ventilation system, trapping …
Anaconda Copper Mining CompanyIndustrial Workers of the World (IWW)Metal Mine Workers' UnionMontana National Guardlabor-suppressionmining-safetyiwwprogressive-eracorporate-negligence
A German U-boat torpedoed the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania about 11 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, sinking the ship in just 18 minutes and killing approximately 1,200 of nearly 2,000 passengers and crew, including 128 Americans. The Germans had circulated warnings that the …
RMS LusitaniaGerman NavyBritish GovernmentJP Morgan & Co.American passengerswar-profiteeringworld-war-ijp-morganpropagandacorporate-negligence
The Spanish-American War’s largest scandal erupts as U.S. Army soldiers receive widespread distribution of extremely low-quality, heavily adulterated beef products from Chicago meatpacking corporations. General Nelson Miles denounces the meat as “embalmed beef,” describing how …
Russell A. AlgerWilliam McKinleyArmour & CoSwift & CoMorris & Co+2 moregilded-agecorruptionwar-profiteeringspanish-american-warcorporate-negligence+1 more