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At Least 500 Million Yahoo Accounts Hacked in Late 2014

Thursday September 22, 2016 1:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Yahoo today confirmed that "at least" 500 million Yahoo accounts were compromised in an attack in late 2014, leaking customer information like names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birthdates, hashed passwords, and both encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers.

Yahoo does not believe unprotected passwords, payment card data, or bank account information was accessed, as that data is not stored in the system that was hacked. According to Yahoo, account information was stolen by a "state-sponsored actor" and the company is working with law enforcement on a full investigation.

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Starting today, Yahoo will notify all affected users and is asking them to change their passwords immediately if passwords have not been changed since 2014. All compromised security questions and answers have also been invalidated. Yahoo has laid out a set of recommendations for all customers who might have had data stolen:
-Change your password and security questions and answers for any other accounts on which you used the same or similar information used for your Yahoo account.
- Review your accounts for suspicious activity.
- Be cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for your personal information or refer you to a web page asking for personal information.
- Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails.
- Additionally, please consider using Yahoo Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password altogether.
Yahoo first said it was investigating a data breach earlier this summer after hackers started selling account access online. The full scope of the attack was not revealed until today and could potentially affect Yahoo's sale to Verizon.

Tag: Yahoo
[ 202 comments ]


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Boatboy24
29 months ago
Yahoo has 500 million users?
Rating: 61 Votes
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Tannerjr
29 months ago
While experts debate the exact number, it is estimated that only a few hundred people will be affected as most forgot they had a yahoo account after SPAM took over their inboxes.
Rating: 44 Votes
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zahuh
29 months ago
Yahoo what the f***!!!!??? Two years to tell us to change our passwords??? Bye bye forever!
Rating: 37 Votes
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bobob
29 months ago
At least it was only 500 million accounts.
Rating: 23 Votes
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temna
29 months ago

How funny that I closed my Yahoo account just a few weeks ago.

Seriously why use Yahoo anymore? Something like Google is much better and still much more trustworthy (especially considering Yahoo's toolbar thing, which is suspicious as ****).


Umm, because I've had my account since the early 90s and I don't trust Google..
Rating: 15 Votes
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CrystalQuest76
29 months ago
For various reasons in the past I felt compelled to create a Yahoo account. I created a unique User ID and Password. I then created unique answers to the standard security questions (a standard practice I perform). I entered those unique pieces of data into a database that I keep for these sorts of things.

I know using honest answers for my parent's names, schools, teachers' names and pets' names all exist in databases and that information can be compiled by someone who can then plug into a brute force attack. Or if the hacker gets the data from one service I use will not be able to use those data points in another attack with similar questions. Since my answers are unique for each service I use, data collection is much more challenging for a bad person. Of course I have serious problems if I loose that database.

Doing all those extra steps may sound paranoid, but as we keep seeing in the news there are hackers out to get us. I just don't take it personal and do not wear a tinfoil hat.
Rating: 9 Votes
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captain cadet
29 months ago
2 years Yahoo! Seriously???? No wonder no one uses you!
Rating: 9 Votes
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truthertech
29 months ago

If they want to know what I ordered from iTunes and Amazon that much, go ahead..



Oh Grasshopper! How wrong you are! It's that attitude that Google and others want to encourage. But as my relative who works in this area would explain to you there is much more than that they are gleaming and storing about you. In the future, folks will really regret that they gave Google and others, e.g., Facebook, all of their photos, all of their personal and business contacts, every email and message they wrote and received, everything you ever purchased, where they drive, who they visit, what they read and watch, what they search for, everything about their families and friends, etc.

That information is being assembled, stored, sold and stolen because it has value to advertisers, foreign countries, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, criminals and, depending on where you live now and in the future, totalitarian and/or evil governments.

Apple's focus on privacy is slowing this down for those who use its eco system, but can't stop all the leaks, e.g., when you use Google search, they have that forever for law enforcement, hackers, etc.

BTW, this website, MR, has a minimum of 15 trackers being loaded on your device as you read this.
Rating: 9 Votes
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R.T.
29 months ago
I haven't logged in to Yahoo in so long I don't even remember my password. Maybe one of the hackers can tell me.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Relentless Power
29 months ago
Yahoo is garbage. It just is. They try to improve, but they allow to much unfiltered junk into their system. It's a hackers play land with Yahoo.
Rating: 8 Votes

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