Yahoo Hack Affected at Least 500 Million Accounts

By the Domicyle Staff

From Yahoo Website

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     In a statement from Bob Lord, Chief Information Security Officer of Yahoo, issued last September 22, a breach in the account of "certain user" in late 2014 may have compromised the basic information of "at least 500 million user accounts."  This hacker also may have been sponsored by a sovereign state.

     These include data pertaining to "names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, encrypted or unencrypted security questiosn and answers."

     Yahoo reiterated that "unprotected passwords, payment card data or bank account information" were not part of the hack as it was not stored in their system.  

     Furthermore, Yahoo said it is cooperating with the authorities about the hack and that the hacker was said to be not "currently in Yahoo's network."

     To further ensure the security of Yahoo account users, Yahoo had laid down recommendations that account users need to do to maintain their security.

     These were:

• Change their password
• Change their security questions and the answers to them
• Change the password and questions to their other accounts which are similar to their Yahoo account
• Avoid "clicking links or downloading attachments from suspicious email" or phishing emails
• Beware of unsolicited email

     In lieu of the breach, a recent The Register online article may shed light on the future of the search engine giant as two Yahoo account users from San Diego, California were suing Yahoo for failing to be prudent of their personal information citing the Consumer Legal Remedies Act in California as well as negligence on its internet account security which they say was in violation of the Stored Communications Act under Federal law.